More of Australia’s economy now depends on digital systems operating in real time.
asserted
More → depend → time
A card payment at a cafe, a hospital retrieving a patient record, a logistics company tracking its fleet and someone paying for a cab at three in the morning all depend on those systems working when they are needed.
asserted
they → retrieve → morning
Behind almost every digital interaction is a telecommunications network moving data between people, businesses, devices and applications.
asserted
network → move → people
As cloud services, digital payments, AI, automation and online customer experiences become embedded in the way organisations operate, connectivity is increasingly becoming a critical piece of national infrastructure.
asserted
connectivity → embed → infrastructure
Chris Gilmore, senior director, enterprise business strategy at Optus, says that distinction has faded as businesses have become more dependent on digital systems.
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businesses → say → systems
“Connectivity is seen as important as power or water.
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Connectivity → see → power
That’s probably the biggest shift we’ve seen in recent years,” Gilmore says.
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Gilmore → ’ → years
“We’ve moved beyond a world where connectivity is just a utility.
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connectivity → move → world
Today, the level of dependency is really determined by the importance of the services sitting on top of it.
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level → determine → it
Infrastructure Australia (IA) has put telecommunications alongside transport, energy, water and social infrastructure in its assessment of what the nation needs to support a changing economy.
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nation → put → economy
IA’s 2026 Annual Budget Statement calls for “high-performing, resilient and technology-enabled” infrastructure across those sectors.
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Statement → call → sectors
The shift comes as Australia grapples with weak productivity growth.
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Australia → come → growth
The Productivity Commission says labour productivity was flat in the June quarter and fell 0.2 per cent over the year, leaving overall productivity barely 1 per cent above its 2015–19 average.
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productivity → say → average
Businesses are also adopting AI rapidly.
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Businesses → adopt → AI
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released in June shows 12 per cent of businesses used AI in 2024–25, compared with 1 per cent in 2022–23.
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cent → release → 2022–23
More than a third of businesses said information and communications technology improved their responsiveness to customer needs.
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technology → say → needs
That puts greater pressure on the infrastructure those businesses rely on.
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businesses → put → infrastructure
From payments to patient care
Businesses large and small now rely on the same underlying infrastructure.
asserted
Businesses → rely → infrastructure
A plumber taking bookings on a mobile phone and a florist accepting eftpos payments rely on the same broad communications infrastructure as banks, hospitals and national transport operators.
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plumber → take → banks
For larger organisations, the number of systems riding on those networks has multiplied.
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number → rid → networks
Transport and logistics companies use connected technologies to track assets and co-ordinate operations.
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companies → use → operations
Healthcare providers use networks to access patient information, transmit medical images, support remote monitoring and provide telehealth services.
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providers → use → services
Customers now contact businesses by phone, web chat, digital channels and AI-powered assistants, placing another layer of business activity on the underlying network.
Asked how much of Australia’s economic activity now relies on telecommunications, Gilmore says: “The short answer is – almost everything.
“Digitisation has helped transform almost every element of the Australian economy, and it all requires telecommunications to work.
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it → contact → telecommunications
That dependence changes the consequences when connections are disrupted.
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connections → change → consequences
An outage can stop payments, interrupt customer interactions, delay deliveries or restrict access to essential information and services.
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outage → stop → information
While no network is infallible, organisations can reduce the impact of disruptions by building resilience into their operations, including backup connectivity, contingency planning and clear business continuity processes.
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organisations → reduce → connectivity
Reliability, security, availability and continuity are therefore becoming business considerations rather than purely technical ones.
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Reliability → become → ones
Gilmore says organisations are responding by treating network design as part of business continuity rather than focusing primarily on bandwidth and uptime.
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organisations → say → bandwidth
Network diversity, redundancy and mobile backup can help maintain services if a primary connection is disrupted.
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connection → help → services
“Resilience is no longer just about having a backup network in place but about designing networks and systems that can respond dynamically to changing conditions, maintain performance and keep critical services available,” he says.
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he → have → services
Networks that respond
AI, automation, robotics and machine-to-machine communication are creating different demands on networks.
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that → respond → networks
For example, remotely operated machinery may need to respond almost instantly to an operator’s instructions, while an AI-enabled camera may need to transmit large volumes of video.
uncertain
camera → operate → video
Not all digital services have the same requirements.
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services → have → requirements
A brief delay in a social media upload may have little impact, while a similar disruption to payment systems or essential communications services could have significant consequences.
uncertain
disruption → have → consequences
As a result, some services require higher levels of resilience and continuity planning than others.
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services → require → others
Paul Milford, executive general manager, networks transformation and AI operations at Optus, says networks will need to become more intelligent, secure and programmable as those demands grow.
“The shift I see is from a network that simply carries traffic to one that can increasingly understand the requirements of the services running across it and adapt accordingly,” Milford says.
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Milford → say → it
AI could also change the way telecommunications networks are operated.
uncertain
networks → change → way
Network operations have traditionally been reactive: an alarm is generated, engineers investigate what happened and action follows.
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action → generate → ?
Modern networks produce enormous volumes of operational data.
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networks → produce → data
AI can correlate information from different parts of a network and identify patterns that would be difficult for engineers to detect at the same speed and scale.
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engineers → correlate → speed
…and 37 more, not listed.
The Aporia
