Fine Telstra AUS$100m, rival ISP demands

And beat it with a stick for broadband price nobble

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Telecoms, 23rd June 2004 13:22 GMT

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Telstra - Australia's incumbent telco - should be fined more than AUS$100m (£38m) for its anti-comptetitive broadband pricing, according to the boss of a rival ISP.

In February, Telstra cut the cost of its retail broadband service undercutting what it charged other operators for wholesale broadband. Rivals said this was unfair and an abuse of Telstra's dominant position.

In March, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) agreed that Telstra had engaged in anti-competitive conduct and slapped the company with a competition notice.

Although the ACCC has yet to decide what further action, if any, to take against Telstra, the watchdog has been given a rather forthright pointer by the MD of one of Australia's leading ISPs.

Greg Wilson, the boss of Primus, said that Telstra should be fined more than AUS$100m to deter the telco from engaging in such behaviour again, The Age reports.

He told an American Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney: "Boy, I'm hoping that a massive great stick will come down on Telstra. They need to be given a massive disincentive not to do this to the industry again."

"Telstra cannot be allowed to get away ever again for what they did. For two to three months they raped and pillaged everyone else's customer base. They should be punished for that. Punished severely."

Go on, Greg: say what you really mean. ®