The Rudd government was "hopelessly compromised" on its plan to build a national broadband network, former Communications Minister Helen Coonan said this week.
If Telstra wins the national fibre-to-the-node broadband network contract without an operational separation condition, innovation in the telecommunications industry and the engineering community will take a hit, according to Optus chief Paul O'Sullivan.
The recently published 2020 summit Final Report has recommended that the government looks seriously into the separation of its national fibre-to-the-node provider, echoing repeated calls by rival telcos to break up Telstra if it wins the national broadband network tender.
Terria and Telstra today welcomed Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's move to name 26 November as the final deadline for bids to build and operate the planned national broadband network, but did not change their positions on how the initiative should go forward.
TPG-Soul has pulled out of the Terria consortium today, saying the nation doesn't need a national broadband network.
Labor's policy of socialised broadband has certainly proved much harder than the party believed it would be back when it was in Opposition, but it is Telstra that stands to lose the most from the NBN - and that applies whether it loses the NBN contract or wins it.
If there's fibre running to the node down my street by the end of 2009, I'll eat my own shoes with mustard sauce.
Sometimes, a well-placed and well-timed letter can make all the difference. Other times, it can make no difference at all and even hurt your case. This week's missive by the Competitive Carriers' Coalition, I would suggest, falls into the latter category.
Fair is not what the National Broadband Network tender is about; it's bloodsport, and a fight for survival, and a challenge of the wills, and all the other sorts of superlatives you might expect from an Olympics announcer.
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