
Cornered! is a blog devoted, most of the time anyway, to telecommunications: local and global issues, technology, people and trends from the perspective of someone who's been reporting, analysing and commenting on the industry since the dark ages (BC - before competition). Sometimes serious, sometimes flippant, sometimes frivolous. Controversial, analytical, informative, amusing, but never boring; a vehicle for examinations of important issues and observations on my encounters and experiences in an industry where polarised views and hyperbole are the norm.
Follow the Australian Telecommunications scene NEWSLETTER- FREE TRIAL Blog
Technology news and Jobs
Cornered!
Optus court victory strengthens case for Telstra separation
Cornered!
Optus court victory strengthens case for Telstra separation | Optus court victory strengthens case for Telstra separation |
|
| by Stuart Corner | |
| Sunday, 03 May 2009 | |
|
Page 3 of 3 Asked by senator Kate Lundy in a Senate Estimates hearing last year: "In the ACCC's view is the current operational separation regime that applies to Telstra an effective mechanism for promoting equivalency between Telstra and its competitors?" Samuel replied: "The short answer is probably no."Featured Whitepaper
5 Best Practices for Smartphone Support
He described the regime as "fundamentally unduly complex," saying that "a lot of discretion is left to Telstra. There are limited self-regulatory mechanisms and unduly convoluted processes to implement any corrective action if a problem is identified." At around the same time, writing in The Telecommunications Journal of Australia, Tony Warren, Telstra's executive director of public affairs, claimed that "There are now firm, enforceable and audited rules and processes in place to ensure the confidentiality of wholesale customer data, the separation of wholesale and retail business units," and asked: "Why do you need structural separation when operational separation already provides volumes of information and transparency around pricing and equivalence of service? There is no systemic discrimination between wholesale and retail that would necessitate structural separation." In the light of this judgement - and remember it revealed that this was not ad hoc activity by relatively low level executives but a systematic campaign carried out with full knowledge of top level executives and the board -it will be extremely difficult for Telstra to convince the government that anything short of full structural separation will prevent a repeat occurrence, or make it any easier for such to be proven.
This article first appeared in ExchangeDaily, iTWire's daily newsletter for telecommunications professionals. Register here for your free trial.
![]() |
| < Next story in category | Previous story in the category > |
|---|



Tags





