iTWire - Telstra takes Coonan to court over Broadband Connect funding

Telstra takes Coonan to court over Broadband Connect funding

by Stuart Corner
Friday, 03 August 2007
Telstra has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against communications minister, Helen Coonan, over the Government's decision to increase the initial $600 million of funding for the Broadband Connect Infrastructure Fund to almost $1 billion and give it to Optus and Elders. Register now to win a Canon EOS 500D Telstra is alleging that the process by which the funding was increased, and subsequently awarded to Opel, was not fair and equitable. This accusation has already been levelled at the Government, by the ALP, which asked the Australian National Audit Office to investigate. The ANOA subsequently found there was no impropriety in the process and DCITA has posted the results of this investigation on its website . According to Telstra, "The Broadband Connect Program Guidelines offered 'up to $600 million' of taxpayers' money to provide broadband to 'underserved' rural and regional areas. Telstra submitted its proposal on that basis." However, instead, almost $1 billion was ultimately awarded to the SingTel Optus and Elders consortium (Opel) to, according to Telstra "largely duplicate existing services with little net benefit to rural Australians." Telstra says it has asked the minister to explain why it was not given an opportunity to submit a revised proposal for almost $1 billion, and has asked the minister to provide it with the documents underlying her decision. It claims that the minister has refused to provide those documents. "Telstra has been left with no alternative but to seek orders from the Federal Court compelling the communications minister Helen Coonan, to provide documents relating to how the decision was made," the company said. Telstra says it has "serious concerns that it was not treated in a 'fair and equitable" manner as required by the program guidelines that were issued, and that "Telstra's proposal was aimed at serving 1,572 smaller communities where there are currently no fixed broadband services and making other network upgrades that would have given broadband access to approximately 250,000 customer lines." Telstra Country Wide group managing director, Geoff Booth, said: "Somewhere along the line the term 'underserved' seems to have been redefined so that the program was no longer about providing a service to people who don't have one to giving people in some areas access to a second or even a third network.{moscomment} Please enable JavaScript in your browser to post your comment! Tags See All Tags Add New Tag... Please Enter New Tags Separated By Comma's Or Close Broadband Stuart Corner Telecommunications Telecoms regulation Telstra Powered By Joomla Tags