Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 05 December 2006 08:31
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Telstra's Nowwearetalking web site has launched a rabid attack on the Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG) accusing it of single-handedly stifling investment in broadband infrastructure in Australia.
The
anonymous blog opens with the statement "If ever you needed to find a reason why Australia's investment in telecommunications infrastructure is shamefully inadequate, then you need look no further than the organisation that purports to be the peak lobby group representing telecommunications users."
It then reminds us, correctly enough, that ATUG "was originally set up by big business back in the early 80s to lobby for deregulation of the Australian market so companies could enjoy the service and productivity benefits that inevitably flow from competition." (Never mind that such competition was far from inevitable in the face of what was then Telecom's aggressive defence of its monopoly."
NWAT then contends that "With that task completed some time ago, ATUG has sadly drifted off course as it has found itself to be a lobby group without a cause." Hardly. It is still lobbying on exactly the issues that NWAT is - broadband - and many other, but from a different perspective.
So says NWAT, "ATUG has gradually morphed into a mouthpiece for SingTel Optus and other telecom operators who rely on leaching on Telstra shareholder's investments and only care about creaming as much profits as they can in the big city markets. Rather than lobby for policy changes to boost investment and extend high-speed fibre networks out to all Australian homes and businesses, ATUG has instead become a champion for the piggyback brigade."
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