The slow road to faster Australian broadband

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Friday, 23 May 2008

Page 1 of 3 ! Although faster fibre broadband in Australia will still take years to build, the process has been delayed by another 12 weeks to give potential bidders more time to examine network information before lodging their proposals. When Senator Stephen Conroy, Australia’s Minister for Communications, originally decided that all proposals to build a “National Broadband Network” in Australia had to be lodged by July 25, many in the industry cried out that the timeframe was completely unrealistic and practically guaranteed success for Telstra. Not only did the telecommunications industry lobby the Federal Government to extend the timeframe, but Australia’s Federal Opposition stepped up their attack on the Government in Parliament, suggesting the short proposal window was strictly being adhered to base political promise-keeping purposes – at the risk of cutting many bidders out of the loop. So when the news came out yesterday that the Minister would extend the proposal window by three months, sighs of relief that the Government was finally listening must surely have been occurring. The 12 week extension will happen “from the date all material is made available”, with the Government requesting additional information from Telstra to that which it has already provided the Minister’s office. Senator Conroy said “In February, I wrote to carriers seeking the voluntary disclosure of network information. All carriers either have or are working towards providing this information in a timely manner and I welcome this cooperative approach”. The Minister continued that: “Telstra has provided some network information however despite its best efforts some information is not yet available. The provision of network information is vital to allow potential proponents to build the network to compete on an equal basis.” He finished by saying that: “The National Broadband Network represents this nation's single largest investment in broadband infrastructure. It is important that interested parties have adequate time to make use of information about existing infrastructure.” What is one analysts’ response, and is the Federal Opposition delighted the Senator has had to change his tune on the NBN proposal dates? Please read on to page 2. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

< Next story in category		Previous story in the category >

Visitors last 30 days Suscribers

904,266 13,751