NBN study: Fielding the hurdle to telco reform

James Riley
Friday, 07 May 2010 13:29

IT Policy - Regulation

Victorian Family First senator Steve Fielding will meet separately with the government and Telstra early next week to discuss the National Broadband Network implementation study before finalising a position on the telecommunications reform legislation.

With the Coalition having already said it will oppose the reform bill, and the Greens and South Australian independent almost certainly planning to support it, the legislation's successful passage or not will fall to Senator Fielding's vote.

The reform bill is listed for debate next Wednesday. With the Coaltion voting against the bill, Government needs the support of the Greens as well as both Fielding and Xenophon to pass the reforms.

Senator Fielding is understood to have been inclined to opposed the bill when it was presented in March (but not voted on), because it also contains a series of measures that would all but enforce the functional separation of Telstra.

His preference had been to wait for a negotiated outcome between Telstra and the NBN Company rather than to see the company forced to functionally separate its operations through legislation.

A spokesman for Senator Fielding said that position had not changed - that he wants a negotiated solution - and was looking through the KPMG-McKinsey implementation study to determine whether that was now a more or less likely proposition.

"We want a negotiated outcome, because we understand from a brief reading of the implementation study that it can be done a lot cheaper if Telstra agrees to some sort of negotiated outcome," a spokesman for Senator Fielding said. "We think that would be the best use of taxpayers' money."

"We're still going through the implementation study and we have meetings next week with both Telstra and Government."

"So there is still a final decision to be made on that. But we are still concerned about the impact on Telstra shareholders," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, South Australian independent Nick Xenophon and the Greens say they will assess the NBN implementation study before finalising a position. Each have previously expressed support for the consumer and competition measures in the bill and any changes to appear more likely to be around amendments around the edges.