Stuart Corner
Monday, 13 August 2007 09:31
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Go to Telstra's web site and trawl through its press releases for January 2005 and you will find a gap between
number 21, issued 25 January, and
number 23, issued 28 January. Subsequent developments suggest this was no accident but an Orwellian excision by Telstra of information it no longer wanted in the public domain.
I religiously retain all source information so I can tell you exactly what was in Telstra press release number 22 of 2005. It was headed "Telstra trial takes ADSL broadband to new lengths." Here is what it said.
"Telstra today announced it is trialling an innovative new device that will significantly increase the transmission limits of ADSL broadband from an enabled Telstra exchange...The three-month trial involves the use of electronic 'booster' equipment, which is located near the end of the current transmission limit. The equipment can increase the signal by up to 20 kilometres from an ADSL-enabled telephone exchange...The trial will help Telstra assess if it is technically and commercially feasible to use the device more widely."
So did the device not pass muster? Far from it. In June 2005 the then head of Telstra Country Wide, Doug Campbell, told the National Farmers Federation: "We have also conducted a trial of a new booster device developed by a local IT company, Extel, that provides transmission to up to approximately 20km from an ADSL-enabled exchange. Following a successful trial, we are about to commence use at several pilot sites, with a view, I can announce today, to making it commercially available in September to HiBIS-eligible customers. It is a small device suited to rural application."
That was before Trujillo and before Next G. Post Trujillo the story changed dramatically. In May 2006, the Australian Financial Review reported that "[Telstra] will not proceed with a plan announced last year to extend broadband to homes and farms outside country towns, amid concerns it would be forced to allow its rivals to use the new connections...Telstra executives told the project's technology supplier, Extel Communications, last week they would connect only a fraction of the households originally planned. The decision means Melbourne-based Extel is likely to shut down its main production line and issue staff with redundancy notices."
