Regulatory Reform NBN Submission Telstra urges Senate to delay NBN debate Telstra may be in the middle of sensitive discussions with Government about its future, and has been on its best behaviour publicly to keep a lid on hubris. But the company has come out swinging in its submission into the Senate inquiry into regulatory reform. In a document that begins with a statement of support for Stephen Conroy's National Broadband Network, Telstra then takes apart the reform legislation, saying it will impede the NBN vision, reduce competition, harm consumers and destroy shareholder value. And the company has called on the Senate to delay any debate about the proposed reforms until after Telstra has completed its "constructive discussions" with Government on the NBN - and, importantly, until after the completion of the NBN implementation study. "Telstra has no choice but to oppose the passage of the Bill in its current form,' Telstra chief executive David Thodey said in a statement. "If the Government decides to proceed with the Bill, we believe that it is only sensible that the Senate delay debate until after the conclusion of constructive discussions between Telstra and the Government over the NBN and the completion of the Government's NBN Implementation Study," he said. "We would also urge that significant amendments are made to the Bill." The Telstra submission says the reform Bill 'is premised on the erroneous assumption' that competition has failed and that Telstra's vertical integration was the cause of that failure. If there is market failure in the telecommunications industry, Telstra blames lack of capital investment - an area it says it dominates. "In the five years to June 2009, Telstra made capital investments totalling more than $23 billion. That equates to 70% of all capital investment for the telecommunications sector," the company said. "To put that in proportion, Telstra has a 62% share of the market, but it is ploughing far more than its share back into capital to meet the future needs of the market." "The failure of the private sector to invest in fixed high-speed broadband infrastructure is in part a function of the cost of deploying optical fibre in a country like Australia, with such a large land mass and relatively small population. "However, it is also a function of the significant investment uncertainty created by the current regulatory regime." On structural separation - the crux of the Telstra negotiations with Government - the company restated its position that it cannot support proposals that would diminish shareholder value And on the threat to deny Telstra access to new spectrum, Telstra says the Government would reduce competition and hurt consumers, without achieving any progress toward the nation's NBN goals. "Denying Telstra access to spectrum will undoubtedly hurt consumers, particularly those in rural and remote Australia, by depriving them of an upgrade path with reduced competition and innovation," the Telstra submission said. And on Government's proposal that Telstra be forced to divest its Foxtel assets and HFC cable, the company said nothing would be achieved except raising questions of sovereign risk - reducing the attractiveness of Australia as an investment destination. "Telstra's shareholders have invested significant sums in these assets. To require them to divest their interests in these assets just as they are becoming profitable is unjust and raises questions of sovereign risk," it said. "There is no consumer or competition benefit from requiring Telstra to sell these assets. Denying Telstra access to spectrum would also do nothing to achieve the NBN."Telstra urges Senate to delay NBN debate Telstra may be in the middle of sensitive discussions with Government about its future, and has been on its best behaviour publicly to keep a lid on hubris. But the company has come out swinging in its submission into the Senate inquiry into regulatory reform. In a document that begins with a statement of support for Stephen Conroy's National Broadband Network, Telstra then takes apart the reform legislation, saying it will impede the NBN vision, reduce competition, harm consumers and destroy shareholder value. And the company has called on the Senate to delay any debate about the proposed reforms until after Telstra has completed its "constructive discussions" with Government on the NBN - and, importantly, until after the completion of the NBN implementation study. "Telstra has no choice but to oppose the passage of the Bill in its current form,' Telstra chief executive David Thodey said in a statement. "If the Government decides to proceed with the Bill, we believe that it is only sensible that the Senate delay debate until after the conclusion of constructive discussions between Telstra and the Government over the NBN and the completion of the Government's NBN Implementation Study," he said. "We would also urge that significant amendments are made to the Bill." The Telstra submission says the reform Bill 'is premised on the erroneous assumption' that competition has failed and that Telstra's vertical integration was the cause of that failure. If there is market failure in the telecommunications industry, Telstra blames lack of capital investment - an area it says it dominates. "In the five years to June 2009, Telstra made capital investments totalling more than $23 billion. That equates to 70% of all capital investment for the telecommunications sector," the company said. "To put that in proportion, Telstra has a 62% share of the market, but it is ploughing far more than its share back into capital to meet the future needs of the market." "The failure of the private sector to invest in fixed high-speed broadband infrastructure is in part a function of the cost of deploying optical fibre in a country like Australia, with such a large land mass and relatively small population. "However, it is also a function of the significant investment uncertainty created by the current regulatory regime." On structural separation - the crux of the Telstra negotiations with Government - the company restated its position that it cannot support proposals that would diminish shareholder value And on the threat to deny Telstra access to new spectrum, Telstra says the Government would reduce competition and hurt consumers, without achieving any progress toward the nation's NBN goals. "Denying Telstra access to spectrum will undoubtedly hurt consumers, particularly those in rural and remote Australia, by depriving them of an upgrade path with reduced competition and innovation," the Telstra submission said. And on Government's proposal that Telstra be forced to divest its Foxtel assets and HFC cable, the company said nothing would be achieved except raising questions of sovereign risk - reducing the attractiveness of Australia as an investment destination. "Telstra's shareholders have invested significant sums in these assets. To require them to divest their interests in these assets just as they are becoming profitable is unjust and raises questions of sovereign risk," it said. "There is no consumer or competition benefit from requiring Telstra to sell these assets. Denying Telstra access to spectrum would also do nothing to achieve the NBN."Telstra has come out swinging in its submission into the Senate inquiry into regulatory reform, urging the Senate to delay debate on National Broadband Network until after the Government's implementation study is complete.

The ACTU has thrown broad support behind Rudd Government communications industry reform but has set down five conditions to make sure no telco worker is worse off under the new regime.

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has unveiled Gershon-inspired government purchasing arrangements for desktop computers and communications services that could save more than $250 million over five years.

Even as Pipe Networks partied in Sydney Thursday night to celebrate the launch of its PPC-1 trans-Pacific cable, the company was pressing Government for changes to proposed legislation to give it better access to interconnect facilities.

The Internet Industry Association wrote to copyright owners more than two years ago seeking to address piracy concerns, only to be told the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft would instead start taking service providers to court.

The NBN Company has passed a significant milestone with the awarding of its first contract for glass fibre cable - the intitial 300 kilometres - for the network that will ultimately connect homes and businesses across Australia.

Microsoft is to be queried by a parliamentary committee investigating cyber-crime over an embarrassing phishing attack on its Hotmail service that allowed unauthorised access to the personal details of up to 10,000 email users.

Australian government 2.0 advocates from the OpenAustralia.org initiative have been invited to attend the eDemocracy Summit 2009 UnConference in Berlin next week to swap ideas on open access information.

A mental health portal launched by the Australian National University that uses Web 2.0-style tools to "crowdsource" opinions about online treatment options aims to encourage young people to seek better health information and better outcomes.

Queensland resort and gated community Sanctuary Cove isn’t waiting for the National Broadband Network to roll past its upmarket residences, and will instead roll-out its own fibre to the home infrastructure in preparation for higher bandwidth services.