Stuart Corner
Monday, 07 July 2008 05:20
IT Policy -
Government Tech Policy
Page 1 of 2
Telstra's strident opposition to any structural or functional separation for the planned National Broadband Network has been dealt a double blow with the heads of both BT and UK regulator, Ofcom praising the separation of BT's access network from other parts of its business.
The head of Ofcom, Ed Richards, in
a speech last week to the UK's Intellect Conference said: "To see the merits of appropriate regulatory intervention, one only needs to consider the functional separation of BT and the consequential success of the UK broadband market, where today we have 99 percent coverage and typical headline speeds of 8Mbps and where European authorities are debating the potential inclusion of functional separation into the new European Framework on the back of the UK's success."
And the recently appointed head of BT, Ian Livingston,
told The Australian newspaper on Monday 7 July that "The UK now has the most diverse, competitive and vibrant communications market in the world...Six years ago, broadband take-up was probably on par with Albania. Today it has higher take-up than Spain, Germany, France and Italy. You might say, you would expect that, but it's also higher than Japan and the US...We've also got some of the lowest prices in the world. And there's 200 different companies you can get broadband from in the UK - everyone from Arsenal Football Club to Z Internet - and that shows the vibrancy of the market."
According to
The Australian, "Privately, many BT executives are understood to be furious with Telstra's continued bad-mouthing of the British experience." And it quotes Telstra chairman, Donald McGauchie telling a media lunch in Melbourne last month. "As for British telecommunications, it is, simply put, a basket case."
However McGauchie painted BT as the victim of Ofcom, against which he launched a blistering attack saying: "This is not to blame BT, though BT made many serious mistakes that Telstra avoided. Rather, the core problem lies in a regulatory system that destroys investment because it is incapable of deciding what it wants.
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