“Quicklook” Assessment of Greater Adelaide's Assets & Challenges ...

10. Telecommunications – They feel that it is a fairly competitive market (comment
from Adrienne – think it could be a lot stronger with room for competition to drive
prices down) consisting of half a dozen carriers (two based in Adelaide - AGILE
and Airnet). Telstranet was owned by the government but 50.1% was sold.
There are four carriers with national operations: Telstra, AAPT, Vodafone, and
Optus. Access is very difficult and duplication a problem. Also, legalities are
discouraging for introducing competition. Competitors find it difficult as Telstra
was once government owned and there are still many protectionist clauses.
11. Telecommunications – They feel the need for more knowledge workers. There is
also a general sentiment that because Adelaide is smaller than Sydney or
Melbourne, it is thought to be substandard.
OPPORTUNITIES
1. The use of smart signs in the area to redirect road traffic when one direction is
congested.
2. An area of concern is the linear development north to south spinning over into
high amenity areas. The resulting sprawl requires attention to planning as well
as funding to maintain an efficient road system that will not become congested
as the city grows.
3. Now that bus system is privatized, the city government could become involved
through cooperative regulation efforts to make it the most efficient bus system.
They can work with the private ownership to help make scheduling to where
people can set their watch times by bus schedules. This is the crucial and initial
step that must be done, then a campaign to set a more professional image to
attract the businessperson back to the bus.
4. Re-zoning to limit parking on main roads during peak hours traffic flow so that
traffic is less congested should be considered.
5. Look at other US cities that have had population decline and where the GSP
actually went up. It was stated that they are looking to these cities for direction.
6. There seems to be confusion in the transport system. It is a world-class system,
but one has to stand on footpath in the rain (suits get wet). The result, is one
would rather use a taxi. There needs to be a provision to pick people up.
7. Electricity is the area of big change. This is because of the rapid development
and roll out of national electricity market protocols. Adelaide is also relatively
isolated and stands alone from the national electricity market with limited
connectivity to it.
8. Wind farm potential appears good because of current high electricity prices, and
good winds at some locations. Recent two hundred year leases on electricity
assets have been followed by periods of higher electricity prices. Note that the
higher electricity prices are a function of generation capacity and other market
developments, not only the privatization process. There has historically been
over investment by the government that is now, after years of over supply, being
used up through naturally increasing demand for energy. There are limited
examples (due to the economics) of people installing some solar generation
technology. They could be selling energy back into the electricity grid in the
future.
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