Telstra v Coonan: no smoke without fire?

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 05 August 2007 13:50

Opinion and Analysis

But, if the Opel bid was so good, why is the Government not shouting the details from the rooftop? Telstra says it recently approached the Government seeking the detail of the plan so it could begin to determine "where it could continue to extend broadband access under the Government's Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG) funding and to assess the extent in which the subsidised network would duplicate coverage and services that Telstra had provided commercially."

The Government's response, according to Telstra was that "Telstra could only have the information if it agreed not to make it public."

Telstra further notes: " OPEL has already commenced advertising on TV and in print media, which is strange as they do not yet have a product. In addition, they are a wholesale company whose potential customer list would be limited to telecommunication providers, so one questions the need to advertise through mass media – hardly a cost effective way to get your message across to such a known and limited customer base."

Telstra adds: "One hopes they are not so wasteful with taxpayer money when building their networks. The advertisement is arguably political and carries the Federal Government's logo – but it does not carry any AEC disclaimer. One must also ask who is paying for the ads and whether they are coming out of the committed funds." Quite.