Coonan knocks back Telstra's local presence plan

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 07 March 2006 09:23

IT Policy - Regulation

Communications minister, senator Helen Coonan, has rejected Telstra's Local Presence Plan saying it does not contain enough information about the company's plans for rural and regional Australia.

"Telstra submitted its draft plan to me in December and after considering the plan closely I have decided to reject it and ask Telstra to provide an improved plan to me by the end of April," the minister said.

Coonan said the December version, which has not been made public, was "a significant improvement to the preliminary draft released for public consultations last year," but still fell short of requirements.

That first draft, released in September, was widely criticised. Critics labelled it a "sham" that offered "platitudes instead of guarantees". Telstra was expected to be pressured into revising the plan to include targets that could be measured over the next three years to determine how country phone services would improve.

Shadow communications minister, Stephen Conroy, was quoted saying that the document did not contain "a single solid commitment about what Telstra would do to improve rural services." He now appears to have been vindicated. Coonan said "One major failing is that Telstra has not given sufficient detail on Telstra's commitments and the benefits they would deliver to people living in rural, regional and remote Australia going forward.

"I would also like to see the plan contain more information about Telstra's service levels and its planned activities in regional, rural and remote Australia...Telstra's Local Presence Plan must be tangible - it must be meaningful - and it must be a genuine outline of how Telstra plans to meet its obligations in rural and regional Australia.

 In informing Telstra of my decision I have also asked for general details on Telstra's current regional capabilities and plans it has for regional activities and projects over the next 12 months."
She added: "The Government does not want to make the Local Presence Plan unduly prescriptive or burdensome and any plan should be broadly compatible with Telstra's commercial interests. This obligation was never designed to be onerous or prescriptive and Telstra's Country Wide model was very early on held up as an exemplar of local presence.

"The Local Presence Plan is not about forcing Telstra to spend more money on services - it is about ensuring its continued commitment to rural and regional Australia.