Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
The Competitive Carriers' Coalition (CCC) and the 'T4' carrier grouping have both called on the government to canvass a broad range of options in its proposed tender process, and not confine it to a "two horse race" on FTTN between Telstra and the G9.
The CCC welcomed the choice of members of the Government's expert panel to be set up to review rival FTTN proposals but said: "The next step is to ensure that they have terms of reference that do not preclude them from investigating issues such as the role of alternative technologies, and the time in which to consider them...The CCC has consistently said that the decisions about who should invest in new broadband networks should not be a two horse race between Telstra and the G9, and should not simply be about a fibre to the node network architecture."
CCC executive director, David Forman, said: "Whatever network is built today is one that will be inherited by future generations, so it cannot be assumed that the Telstra and G9 proposals are the best, simply because those two have been making the most noise in the past year."
T4 (Tell the Truth Telstra) - whose members are AAPT, Adam Internet, Austar, iiNet, Internode, Macquarie Telecom, Powertel, Primus Telecom, Telarus, TransACT, WestNet and Unwired - also announced its support for the Government’s expert panel on broadband, and called for a review of all broadband options, not just those from Telstra and the G9 that are on the table. It said that the panel should consider the role of all technologies including wireless to determine the best option.
“The panel has the opportunity to review the best option for Australia’s future. This should not just be a debate on the merits of two rival proposals...This is a unique opportunity to ensure that Australia has the best technology possible and the right infrastructure to support the its immediate and future needs,” a spokesman said.
T4 also warned the panel against caving into Telstra’s demand for a quick-fix decision. “Telstra has pressured the Government to rush through a decision on FTTN. It used the premise of its budgeting schedule to try and push a result – and undermine the competition. The panel must be given sufficient time and scope to make such a major decision; one that will concern broadband for Australia’s next generation. Telstra must not be allowed to define the terms and timeline of that decision.”
The CCC wrote to the minister for communications and the treasurer earlier this month calling for the panel to review the full range of issues, including;
• An emphasis on the most sustainable model of competition;
• A pathway to the lowest on going regulatory burden over time, consistent with growing competitive forces and the benefits to consumers that this delivers;
• The lowest sustainable price setting process most reflective of true cost, without locking in over-recovery of start up capital expense;
• World best thinking on regulatory structures; and
• The views of a broad range of opinion, and not be confined to the two identified "bidders" wishing build a FTTN network.
David Bass
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