Telstra rejects Aussie gov calls for split
Stephen Conroy finds some more people to annoy
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The incumbent Australian telco Telstra is unimpressed with broadband minister Stephen Conroy's calls for reform and the possible division of the company up into retail and wholesale businesses.
Legislation aims to strengthen consumer protection by reinforcing the Universal Service Obligation and Customer Service Guarantee.
Conroy said: “It is the Government’s clear desire for Telstra to structurally separate, on a voluntary and cooperative basis."
The minister said there had been over 150 telecoms access disputes since the current regulations were established in 1997, compared to just a handful in other areas like airports and energy. Conroy said existing regulations were "cumbersome" and "open to gaming and abuse."
But Telstra said it was disappointed at aspects of the proposed laws.
David Thodey, Telstra's chief executive said: "It is Telstra's view that many aspects of this package are unnecessary and need never be implemented if a mutually acceptable outcome can be reached on the National Broadband Network [Telstra's next generation network]." The company said it was fully committed to the network.
The new laws will also mean carriers with turnover of less than A$25m (£13.03m) will be exempt from buying an annual carrier license.
Conroy's comments are here and Telstra's response is here. ®
COMMENTS
@Simon 36
"once they figure out that running wires on telegraph poles is simply short-sighted."
What would you do? You can't use wireless as there's not enough radio spectrum.
In above, if you really mean 'wires'-Cu then I'd agree with you. Presumably you mean fibre.
"in Australia Telstra owns and maintains 98% of the hardware and infrastructure of the country, which given the distance and size of Australia makes it the largest provider of it's kind in the world - yep a world leader"
Correct, but Telstra should not own it.
The distribution system should have remained in the hands of the Govt. as a revenue-neutral utility. There are many models for stopping such a utility from becoming an inefficient dept. such as having large users with board members on the utility and voting with respect to funding priorities etc.
The main issue is to get the distribution network back out of Telstra's hands--back to the Australian people where it belongs. We couldn’t care less about the exchanges, retail etc. let Telstra keep that--then they'll be on par with other providers.
"Telstra now answers to it's shareholders, and the government will be in the High Court for a long time explaining why now it's stuffed up the roll-out of the NBN some four years ago (1.4 Billion given to Optus and it's consortium)."
Agreed. In other countries the citizenry would be rioting in the streets by now if the government had done what the Australian Govt. did with the Telstra sell-off.
It's a disgraceful tragedy. And we idiot citizens let the Cretins in Canberra do it.
"Why on earth would Telstra invest in new hardware and infrastructure if the next short-sighted political light-weight thinks he can carve it up for the rest of the market (who incidentally have not installed any meaningful infrastructure in years). - You will only see and OPTUS Van in the country if it's either lost or stolen."
Who cares what Telstra does if the distribution infrastructure is back in the hands of the Australian public? Presumably only Telstra shareholders. (And thankfully I'm not one of them.)
"Telstra is the only company maintaining and servicing infrastructure in Australia - let's see the rest have a go? With the majority of of our population (and easy money) on the east coast no other company is prepared to make any investment in the future."
Telstra doesn’t do much maintenance--ask all the ex Telstra employees [no, I've never been one.]
The effective level of service (line maintenance etc) since Telstra took over the network has dropped substantially. (I could provide pages of examples.)
"Telstra is a company - if the government wants to make the game fair - then another multinational company needs to decide on it's infrastructure solution for twenty million people and to pay for it themselves..."
None would bother. It would be insane for large multinational to try and replicate the 130 or so years of infrastructural development in the network. That's why we need the distribution network back in public ownership.
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY--OTHER THAN PERHAPS PAY AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE MORE FOR OUR TELECOM COSTS THAN CITIZENS DO IN OTHER COMPARABLE COUNTRIES.
Wow
This will be the best thing to happen in the history of Australian telecommunications.
Or it would, if a government that had ever displayed any competence were behind it. That excludes at least the present and previous ones.
@Graham Wilson - Dream on!
Conroy is dangerously stupid paired with KRudd.
We in Australia are watching things lurch from idiocy to the ludicrous - the 43 Billion Dollar NBN (National Broadband Network) is going to cost another 20 Billion once they figure out that running wires on telegraph poles is simply short-sighted. (in Australia Telstra owns and maintains 98% of the hardware and infrastructure of the country, which given the distance and size of Australia makes it the largest provider of it's kind in the world - yep a world leader).
Telstra now answers to it's shareholders, and the government will be in the High Court for a long time explaining why now it's stuffed up the roll-out of the NBN some four years ago (1.4 Billion given to Optus and it's consortium).
Why on earth would Telstra invest in new hardware and infrastructure if the next short-sighted political light-weight thinks he can carve it up for the rest of the market (who incidentally have not installed any meaningful infrastructure in years). - You will only see and OPTUS Van in the country if it's either lost or stolen.
Telstra is the only company maintaining and servicing infrastructure in Australia - let's see the rest have a go? With the majority of of our population (and easy money) on the east coast no other company is prepared to make any investment in the future.
Telstra is a company - if the government wants to make the game fair - then another multinational company needs to decide on it's infrastructure solution for twenty million people and to pay for it themselves...
no apologies for length - just sick of the BS
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