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Telstra escalates PR war against Coonan
Telecommunications
Telstra escalates PR war against Coonan | Telstra escalates PR war against Coonan |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Monday, 17 September 2007 | |
Telstra is taking out full page adverts in country newspapers and planning letterbox drops to counter what is says is false information (and free publicity for the Optus Elders joint venture) contained in a letter about broadband sent to a large number of rural residents by communications minister Helen Coonan.Featured Whitepaper
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In the letter Coonan says: "Data from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has shown that to date, your street address has not received a commercial upgrade to enable access to ADSL or wireless broadband." She provides no qualification as to what type of 'wireless broadband' she is referring to, and even if Telstra's claims of greater than 98 percent coverage for Next G are exaggerated, it is highly likely that many of these residents would be able to get Next G wireless broadband, albeit at price higher than ADSL services. In its advert, Telstra says: "feedback we have received clearly shows many recipients of the letter can already access ADSL broadband or wireless broadband via Telstra’s Next G network, or in some cases both. In some instances the letter was even sent to people who already have ADSL from exchanges that were upgraded with taxpayers’ money; something the minister should already have known." Telstra says it believes that about 500,000 letters have been sent, but the minister has not responded to its requests for more information about how many letters had been sent and where they were distributed. The minister's letter continues with free publicity for Opel: "The roll-out of the new national high speed network is starting shortly and your address is likely to benefit from the new broadband service...Opel, a joint venture between Optus and Elders, was the successful bidder in the Government's competitive process to build the network...and will begin to reach many Australian homes and businesses in coming months, with roll-out to be completed in full by mid-2009."{moscomment} |
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