Radio Australia Shortwave - ABC cuts?

[VK4TI]

There are places in the world where a radio service is needed and there is little if any internet , that will change I guess

[VK2MUS]

I think you under estimate the use of mobile phones in 3rd world countries Compared to some of these countries and the Asian countries we are a bit backward when it comes to mobile phones and the internet
John

[VK4TI]

]many of those countries have amazing mobile networks BUT the data allowance is normally tiny and expensive so my point stands once you exit a few cities

[VK4DU]

...and the mobile network is easily switched off or the particular stream blocked.

HFBC an't dead yet.

[VK4TIM]

John,
You are correct about one thing, and that is mobile phone coverage in many Asian countries, and yes, from my personal experience, coverage in these places is far better than it is here, there is a greater population spread more evenly.

However, when it comes to internet access and available bandwidth, there is the problem. Many areas have limited or no landline service, and that obviously includes ADSL etc. People use mobile phones for voice calls and SMS. Internet connectivity, while it's available, is generally very poor, with high latency/jitter, and the bandwidth acheivable is often insufficient to allow VoIP applications to work reliably, if at all.

I would not expect to be able to stream even mono audio across a 3G mobile phone connection in a place such as Manila!

And yes, the cost of 3G data is higher than the overwhelming percentage of the population would be prepared to/be able to pay, even if it would seen cheap for us.
I know many people who will carry two or three mobile phones on different networks because the cost of an SMS between networks might be as much as 15 time the cost of an SMS within the same network.

There is still a place in this world for international broadcasting via HF. Shortwave radios and batteries are cheaper for the end user by comparison to the internet for streaming for many.
And yes, I know of many people in a couple of Asian countries who do use shortwave receivers to get news and information from around the world, even when they have local broadcast services available, it's also a good way for them to practice and understand the english language.