Telstra negotiation announcement by Xmas: Conroy

James Riley
Thursday, 10 December 2009 13:36

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy expects to announce "substantial progress" in government negotiations with Telstra by Christmas, and says he expects the Nationals will back its telecommunications reform bill in the Senate in February.

Any deal struck with Telstra would take several years to implement, and neither government nor the company would give an ongoing commentary to the negotiations because they would compromise the continuous reporting requirements for Telstra.

"We are confident that we will have very significant progress to announce by Christmas,"  Senator Conroy said. "We are engaged in very constructive dialogue."

"There are billions and billions of dollars involved in these discussions, so it's a very sensitive commercial issue," he said. "You've got to be conscious of continuous disclosure requirements, you got to be conscious of a whole range of legal obligations on the Telstra management … (but the talks) continue to be very constructive."

Senator Conroy moved to placate the concerns of Telstra competitors who remain worried that a weak deal with Telstra might undermine the government determination to pass its reform bill.

However, while the legislation remains timetabled to be discussed in the Senate in February, Senator Conroy concedes it may incorporate changes, depending on the result of the Telstra talks.

"We're committed to passing the legislation. Obviously if discussions with Telstra progress and we reach the agreement that we hope we're going to reach … and those discussions continue to be constructive, then there could be changes," Senator Conroy told a press conference at the Realising our Broadband Future conference in Sydney today.

Though Government has been unsure of its Senate numbers when the reform bill had been introduced, Senator Conroy said he was confident the Nationals would support the bill in February.

"But at this stage, the legislation is intended to be brought back and discussed, and I think if you look at comments from Barnaby Joyce and the National Party, they still remain very committed to passing that legislation," he said.

"I can understand that everybody wants to ensure that we deliver on our commitment and they can be reassured that we will deliver the wholesale open access network that we have promised and we will legislate."

Senator Conroy dismissed opposition complaints about the NBN conference as an expensive talk-fest.

"The Opposition have announced that they're opposed to the entire broadband network. They are trapped in the twentieth century. They are ignoring the incredible benefits that will come," he said.

"They're ignoring the economic, the productivity and the social benefits that will come from the National Broadband Network."