Telstra re-affirms commitments to regional and rural Australia

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 17 January 2012 13:07

IT Policy - Regulation

Telstra has released a draft of its Regional and Rural Presence Plan for 2012-15 for public consultation.

Production of the plan and its release for public consultation prior to it being submitted to the minister are conditions of Telstra's licence introduced in 2005. This is the third iteration of the plan, which Telstra is required to update every three years and which on each occasion it has complained is unnecessary.

Telstra's carrier licence also requires the company to maintain a local presence in regional, rural and remote Australia to the extent that this is broadly compatible with the its overall commercial interests and is not unduly prescriptive and does not impose undue financial and administrative burdens on the company.

The requirement on Telstra to produce the plan has its origins in the Howard Government's sale of the remaining Government shares in Telstra (T3). Many, electorally significant, members of rural and remote communities feared that, absent direct government control and significant competition, Telstra would direct resources away from regional and remote Australia to fight for business in the more lucrative metro areas where competition would be fiercest.

The first draft plan was produced in late 2005 to a barrage of criticism. There had been expectations that it would somehow contain clear commitments to new initiatives by Telstra giving form and substance to the shadowy concept of rural 'presence' and that the meeting of these commitments would be evident by measurable outcomes, which would be defined in the plan.

Telstra claims that the latest version of the plan "will focus on the service standards and outputs that are delivered, and will continue to be delivered, by Telstra's regional, rural and remote presence [and] sets out the measures for assessing Telstra's progress in implementing the Plan."

Telstra is required to report annually on its progress against the key measures set out in the plan, "highlighting milestone achievements in the service of our regional, rural and remote customers."

Telstra's draft 2012 Regional and Rural Presence Plan is available for comment until Sunday 26 February.