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Telecommunications Media Q&A with Conroy over Telstra NBN exclusion
Telecommunications Media Q&A with Conroy over Telstra NBN exclusion | Media Q&A with Conroy over Telstra NBN exclusion |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Monday, 15 December 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 4 QUESTION: So what would you say to Sol Trujillo's comment on his conference call this morning that a law preventing somebody building a network, like an over-build, would be akin to the laws in Cuba or North Korea?Featured Whitepaper
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I'm due to get one this afternoon if I get time, what is contained in the other bids. So that has been speculated on and claimed by various proponents at various stages. But I'm not going to be commenting on individual regulatory asks now, I mean I haven't commented on it previously. The process was designed to create competitive tension, and we ended up with four national potential bids, three now in the process. And most people would have said consistently that if you get one bid, you'll have done well, Steve. So we've actually done much better than most have predicted in terms of this process. QUESTION: Two questions. First of all just so we're absolutely clear, was Telstra's bid knocked out by yourselves, that is the legal process, or was it based on the recommendation of the panel? STEPHEN CONROY: The Government didn't have a role in this particular part of the process. The expert panel made the recommendation and the secretary of the department who chairs the expert panel wrote over the weekend to Telstra informing them. But there was no government role. Legal advice was sought, based on the information that was available and the expert panel considered that legal advice and made the decision on the recommendation and the secretary of the department then wrote to the department - wrote to Telstra. QUESTION: The other question is if Telstra decided to roll out its own broadband network, would you attempt to stop it? STEPHEN CONROY: Well as I said, that's a matter for Telstra. I'm not going to speculate on hypotheticals. That goes to the heart of the question that I was asked before. There has been suggestions that there's over-build prohibition contained in some of the bids, and that goes to the heart of whether or not the Government would consider that. This is a matter now being considered by the expert panel. They'll make a recommendation to me towards the end of January and I'm not going to pre-empt the advice that they give me. QUESTION: Why was Telstra given the advice that are excluded on a Sunday night? It's been suggested by Senator Minchin that was done under the cover of darkness to, you know, to be hidden behind the ETS(*) announcement. STEPHEN CONROY: Look, I've got a string of Senator Minchin's quotes for the last few weeks, it may come as a surprise to you. On the 26 November Senator Minchin said Telstra refused to submit a formal bid. Quote: “Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company refused to submit a bid because of a number of unresolved issues in the tender documentation.” He then went on to claim I'd mislead the Senate. “Senator Conroy told the Senate that a bid from Telstra was among those received today at the close of tender”… but that is plain wrong. On the first of December Telstra, by its own admission, has not submitted a formal bid. And yet today he says; “nevertheless in good faith Telstra did put in a proposal outlining how it would build the network. And now they're being treated like this, just being excluded on the most spurious of grounds. Seems extraordinary.” I mean, he spent three weeks demanding Telstra be excluded from the process, then on the morning after the expert panel makes a decision based on legal advice that he's been calling for, then he starts complaining that Telstra had been excluded. The committee has been driven by legal advice. And it's sought to comply with advice from the Solicitor-General and all of the others about treating all of the bidders promptly and fairly. The expert panel was meeting over the weekend because it's a part-time committee, it's not full-time members. They all have other jobs and they've all committed their time, including this weekend, which has been part of the process and was advertised many, many weeks ago. QUESTION: So when was the final decision made then, on the Sunday or Saturday? STEPHEN CONROY: Look, the final decision I believe, and I'm not a member of the panel, I believe they met on Saturday and then yesterday afternoon they forwarded a letter to Telstra - I mean, it takes some time to work it up and make sure the legals are all right, so they forwarded it yesterday afternoon. Now, they would have had to have done it before 10 o'clock this morning otherwise it would have involved a trading halt and things like that. So they were very conscious of Telstra's legal obligations of continuous disclosure, so they wanted to ensure they got the information to Telstra at the earliest opportunity. Giving them at five to 10 would probably have been not a great way of, you know, making sure the market was fully informed. So I don't - notwithstanding Senator Minchin's ongoing incoherence on this matter, I don't think that there was anything untoward. I think they were just following the legal advice to be prompt and deal with proponents fairly and evenly. The questions - and answers - continue on page 3, please read on. |
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