The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
"When the industry submissions were released on 12 June,
it became apparent that most industry operators, particularly Telstra’s
competitors, were focused on the short-term structural separation of
Telstra’s copper access network," Kennedy says.
"In contrast, scant attention was paid to the
regulatory requirements for an NBN. This is why the government has been
forced to seek further input.
"We believe that this reflects a gap between the industry and the
government. While the government is committed to the long-term goal of
building an FTTH access network in Australia, Telstra’s competitors
have far more interest in the regulation of the existing copper access
network than in an FTTH network that will take years to build."
In fact, according to Kennedy, the issue underlines how the
telecommunications industry as a whole - including Telstra and its
competitors - has interests that diverge from those of the Government
in relation to the NBN.
"This problem underlines how tricky the transition from copper to NGN
will be. In fact, the policy challenge can be summed up as a complex
process of transition management," Kennedy says.
"The apparently minor incident of a press release (seeking further
input in NBN impementation) points to the more substantial reality:
that the government, Telstra’s competitors and Telstra itself do not
have the same incentives in this process.
"As a result, the Minister cannot assume that he will have the
automatic support of either side of the industry for the government’s
NBN objectives."
David Bass
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