Hard deadline: Conroy calls last drinks at Telstra saloon

James Riley
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:18

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy expects the complex negotiations with Telstra over its regulatory future to be complete by the beginning of December, and says enough preparatory work has already been done to make that deadline realistic.

Senator Conroy says timetable is feasible. And if voluntary way forward with Telstra is not reached, Government will move ahead with the forced functional separation of the company.

Optus director of government and corporate affairs Maha Krishnapillai told iTWire the Conroy timetable was "a masterpiece of incentive ... a carrot and stick thing."

"The bill will be tabled in the House of Representatives today (and) referred off to a Senate committee," Senator Conroy said. "And the bill will be debated in Parliament in the October/November sessions."

"We believe that for the triggers and the flexibilities that are inherent in this bill to be activated, those discussions need to be complete by around the end of November (or) beginning of December."

Senator Conroy said the on-going discussions with Telstra meant the company was very well prepared for the possibility of today’s announcement, and that further discussions should be able to progress swiftly.

"I think it would be fair to say Telstra have been preparing for today for a considerable period of time. I think since the change of leadership at Telstra, they put an enormous amount of work, very constructive work, into being prepared," he said.

Competitive Carriers Coalition executive director David Foreman said the timetable to implementing the regulatory changes was "absolutely realistic" because the issue had been discussed at various industry and government levels for years.

And he has no doubt the timetable outlined by Senator Conroy is a 'hard' deadline.

"There is plenty of time. Everybody knows the issues. Everybody knows the options," Forman said.

"There is no question that everybody could respond to this, and should be able to. And I think the Government, for a number of reasons, is clearly committed to making sure that the whips are cracked and that things happen."

Optus’ Krishnapillai says the timetable will be met, partly because so much work has already been done, but mainly because the Minister has set a deadline and is unlikely to waver.

"There has been at least 12 months worth of solid work gone into this … by Telstra, by Optus, by many others in the industry as well as the department and the Government," Krishnapillai told iTWire. "It’s not as if we are starting today, a lot of work has already been done."

"But the timetable is very much driven by the fact that this Government is not going to wait to get some decisions until next year. They need to get some decisions on this – either the Government choosing its own path or Telstra being positive and cooperating … to get this moving," he said.

"So yes I think there is enough time."