commentary In choosing a media-hardened executive as interim
director of the NBN Company and the first appointment to a board that will
be finalised within weeks, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has put heft
behind his argument that the NBN will not only drive new forms of
content, but will potentially become a significant force in
reshaping Australia's online content market.
Martin Hoffman (Credit: Future Exploration Network)
As someone who has headed Australia's most enduring old
media/new media partnership, Martin Hoffman certainly should know his way around Australia's content
markets.
Hoffman quadrupled ninemsn's revenues during his three-year
tenure before leaving to spend nearly two years with social
networking firm Loop Mobile. In coordinating between no less than
Microsoft and the Nine Network, Hoffman has worked both sides of
the fence and has the chops to build and maintain relationships
between the government's NBN infrastructure and the content
providers that will be amongst its beneficiaries.
Hoffman's latest position, as policy coordinator within the
department of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,
has given him the chance to re-frame those private sector skills
within the structure and governance demands of massive
public sector projects. He has enjoyed a box seat during the
development of NBN policy, and will bring essential vision
necessary to help NBN Co bring its carriage services to the
ventures that will utilise them.
In choosing an ex-media executive as the first new appointment
to the company, Conroy is sending a strong signal about the role he
expects the NBN to play as the project slowly lifts its lumbering
frame off the ground and starts to move ahead. This could have
significant implications on everything from online government,
learning, and small-business initiatives — all priorities Conroy
mentioned in this week's speech outlining his vision for
Australia's future digital economy — to the NBN's potential commercial applications in areas such as
the media and broadcasting industry.
This industry faces significant challenges as ubiquitous access
to swathes of bandwidth offers the potential to shift the balance
of power away from today's free-to-air and pay TV networks. Fat
pipes directly into consumers' homes offer unprecedented new
opportunities to break the stranglehold of today's
geographically-constrained and top-heavy broadcast markets with new
IP-based content and services — but actually delivering these
services is going to require some policy tweaking and team-building
as it threatens some very well-established ecosystems.
Hoffman's position on the board will ensure that the NBN Co can engage with the content industry in a meaningful way
Fully aware of the political pressures he faces in making the
NBN work as expected — and justify its cost — Conroy has been
heavily preoccupied with delineating viable business cases for the
services it will enable. It's hard to ignore the potential for
broadcasters to utilise the network, which will expand on the
current pay-TV footprint of around 2.5 million cabled homes. With a
bit over half of those currently buying the services, an NBN
reaching nearly 10 million homes might become a cable alternative
for around 6 million Australian households.
The content possibilities posed by such an infrastructure are
significant indeed, and Hoffman's position on the board will ensure
that the NBN Co can engage with the content industry in a meaningful
way. Given this and the many other content-related possibilities
for the NBN, it makes sense for Conroy to kick off the NBN Co board
with someone who knows the ropes in this area.
Yet steering markets towards the NBN is only one benefit of
having someone of Hoffman's pedigree on the board: a deep
understanding of the dynamics and economics of online content will
be essential for nearly every part of Conroy's NBN vision. Rather
than filling the board with telecoms industry people, Conroy is
clearly determined to bring a range of opinions to the table.
Telecoms experience seems almost mandatory for inclusion on the
NBN Co board — but if Hoffman's appointment is any guide, that
experience may well be complemented with expertise in a range of
other key industries — including healthcare, government, education,
utilities and financial services.
By reaching out across Australian industry, Conroy may well lay
the groundwork for an engaging, and hopefully effective,
multidisciplinary NBN Co with a solid direction into his digital
future.