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Telecommunications ACCC's approach is "bugger the bush" says Telstra
Telecommunications ACCC's approach is "bugger the bush" says Telstra | ACCC's approach is "bugger the bush" says Telstra |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Friday, 18 May 2007 | |
  
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In language unprecedented in a corporate press release, Telstra said: "It is clear the ACCC's attitude is to look after affluent central city dwellers and bugger the bush." According to Telstra, the ACT's decision will "aggravate the digital divide and magnify the problem by starving investment in regional telecoms infrastructure." Telstra said it was "considering the implications of this decision for the pricing of its services in both the city and the bush." Telstra said it had "appealed to the Competition Tribunal in an effort to require the ACCC to adhere to the Government's policy of national averaged pricing for telecommunications, so that broadband prices are the same in the city as the bush." However this policy is for retail services not necessarily the underlying services and in an earlier undertaking, also rejected by the ACCC Telstra had proposed de-averaged prices ranging from about $13 in CBDs to over $100 in rural areas. Shortly after the ACCC rejected it, in late December 2005, Telstra submitted a new undertaking with the $30 average price. Telstra now warns Australia's "elected leaders" that they have a bigger problem on their hands. "The problem facing rural broadband users is grim, and it will deteriorate if the Government directs taxpayer-funded subsidies, called Broadband Connect, to duplicating services in big regional centres rather than extending broadband connections for the first time to unwired communities.{moscomment} |
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