The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
What a contrast! What passes for a strategy in Australia has been driven entirely by Telstra's secret discussions with the Government in August 2005 - designed to re-establish its access network monopoly in the next generation network era - and by the subsequent reactions of all other parties to this: the ACCC, the other carriers, the ALP.
The Government's latest initiative is largely in response to the momentum gained by the ALP's totally uncosted and unsubstantiated FTTN plan (it got the $4.7 billion figure from Telstra's 2005 proposals to the Government which were made public a month later.)
It is looking increasingly likely that the Howard Government will be booted out of office later this year. The expert taskforce represents its last chance to leave any legacy other than one bereft of vision, strategy and achievement in the development of Australia's key telecommunications infrastructure.
As presently constituted the taskforce is singularly lacking in telecommunications technology expertise. And the G9 does not trust it or the government even to rectify this situation unaided. It has called for the appointment of additional expert advisors saying: "The process by which expert advisers are appointed and the degree of involvement of technical advisers is a matter that the Expert Taskforce should seek input on as part of the public consultation required under the terms of reference."
Given the right people and sufficient time for the process we might, just might, get a good outcome. But I'm not holding my breath.
David Bass
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