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S U B M I S S I O N LETTER FROM FAIRFAX CEO FRED HILMER TO PRIME MINISTER HOWARD AND CABINET MINISTERS ON DATACASTING ISSUES
Dear Prime Minister: In the coming weeks, Cabinet is expected to consider a very important submission on datacasting. The policy issues flow from the digital television legislation enacted last year. Datacasting is the next frontier in the information and e-commerce revolution. By combining content from print, the internet, video, and interactive commerce, datacasting goes far beyond a simple marriage of web content and the television. Datacasting is a new medium that will provide much more than passive viewing of pretty pictures. Just as radio leveraged off print, and television off radio and movies, in each case creating new media forms, datacasting is a potentially similar leap forward. It will bring, via digital transmission, new types of news, information, commerce, and entertainment services to homes via digital television. Fairfax supports policy choices that will bring the full benefits of digital television and datacasting to all Australian households, at reasonable cost. Australia should enter the new century with a vigorous policy to promote a new generation of digital datacasting services to the community. Whether datacasting is viable as a business and attractive to viewers, or whether it will be nothing more than an empty promise, depends on the decisions Cabinet will take on the scope of datacasting services and the technological standards that will govern its transmission and reception. With the right approach a new industry will be born. The best policy choices in this area are those that will be good for consumers and promote jobs. Cabinet made some important decisions last year on digital television. The free-to-air networks were given an immense amount of spectrum, for free, for digital television and a guaranteed opportunity to provide datacasting. Over the past several months, the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has conducted an intensive and thorough process of seeking submissions on how best to initiate datacasting. Most of those who will participate in this new datacasting industry and the consumer movement have reached a consensus on the key issues: • There should be a broad definition of datacasting. • There should be technical standards that enable the use of affordable, world-standard set top boxes. Standard definition and high definition digital signals should be broadcast together at all times. • Spectrum planning should allow the maximum number of new services. Investment, jobs, and especially new services to all Australians, in the bush as well as the cities, hinge on an affirmative choice to open the door to digital datacasting services. Choices will be made that will determine whether this technology is affordable by most Australians or out of reach for all but the wealthiest in our country. Fairfax will, if Cabinet decides on legislation that in fact permits datacasting to be viable, be a leader in datacasting. We have already created in the past few years almost 300 new jobs in our online businesses. We have developed a family of more than 15 websites, and we are the leading Australian content provider on the Internet. It is this expertise and energy that will bring datacasting services into existence. We will have substantial competition from other media and content companies in the race to provide datacasting services. We welcome all the competitors, and what competition will mean for services to Australians. A brief issues paper on our view on these key questions is enclosed for your reference. I would welcome the opportunity to talk with you about datacasting, and invite you to contact me. Regards, Frederick G. Hilmer 20 August , 1999
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Fairfax > Corporate Affairs & Media Releases > Announcements > DATACASTING
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