Sometimes busy schedules and long distance prevent us from being at special events – Christmas, birthdays and even weddings. Although disappointed, bride-to-be Chris understood that friends in Broome would not be able to make the trip to her garden wedding in Cairns. But her brother, Telstra Operations Engineer Bruce Nixon, had some ideas to help bring the two parties a little closer.

Originally the plan was to have an audio hook-up on speakerphone so that Broome friends could listen to the ceremony live, but that was so "last century".

Chris asked if there was a better way, and that got Dad and I thinking.

We decided to set-up a laptop with a Next G™ turbo card and a webcam in both Cairns and Broome. I handled the ‘technical support’ over the phone and the result was a resounding success.

The whole thing went off without a hitch and was appreciated by guests in Queensland and Western Australia.

Not only were the guests moved by the ceremony, they now truly realise the benefits that broadband and wireless technology can bring.