Telstra issues NBN update: Competitors brand it an "extortion note"

Stuart Corner
Friday, 19 March 2010 15:17

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

An update on its NBN negotiations with the Government, issued by Telstra, has produced a stinging response from the Competitive Carriers Coalition, which has branded it "little more than an extortion note to the Government."

Ostensibly Telstra issued the note in a bid to dampen speculation in the media as the status of these negotiations, saying "There have been a number of recent media articles speculating on the status of Telstra's negotiations in relation to the National Broadband Network (NBN)," but CCC sees the timing as relating the Government's failure to get the reform legislation through Parliament.

"One day after having succeeded in stopping these laws passing the Senate, Telstra now reveals that it wants a special payment from taxpayers to get out of the way of decent reforms," CCC says.

Telstra says the negotiations are "focussed on the future of Telstra’s fixed local access network and associated matters," and are continuing. However, "there is a significant gap between Telstra and NBN Co on what each party considers to be an acceptable financial outcome and there are also a range of commercial matters that are yet to be agreed."

According to the CCC, this translates into "a demand that taxpayers bail [Telstra] out of the hole it has dug for itself, presumably to the tune of billions of dollars."

Telstra says it is "discussing ways in which the gap can be bridged, recognising that the Government has highlighted the national interest benefits of the NBN and reform of the telecommunications industry…[However] a range of legislative changes and regulatory approvals will be needed for an agreement to be implemented."

According to CCC, this means: "NBN Co has refused to pay an inflated price for Telstra’s assets, so Telstra has declared it is going to continue to frustrate good policy unless it is paid-off by taxpayers."

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