commentary A great deal has been written about the National Broadband Network (NBN) proposals; how it might be provided, which companies may be involved in its supply and their associated views.
BT Asia-Pacific
President Allen Ma
(Credit: BT)
This article is a letter to the editor sent by Allen Ma, the president of the Asia-Pacific operations of BT (formerly British Telecom).
This is a healthy, vigorous debate about a national open access broadband network that will positively impact the lives of Australian consumers and drive the next growth engine of an innovative e-Australia. Innovation and positive impact for consumers and businesses alike fundamentally come from effective competition from a range of suppliers.
In such massive infrastructure projects as the NBN it would not be possible to fund competing infrastructures, nor is it a sensible thing to do. Therefore the NBN infrastructure has to be open to all in a way that no one company has an advantage over another.
For the companies preparing to bid for this project the debate has been heated; as one might expect when such large commercial interests are involved.
A great deal has been spoken and written about the case for providing open and equivalent access by the NBN to all potential suppliers of national broadband services. A seemingly endless supply of sponsored learned papers make contrary arguments — all based on alleged "facts" — and a range of ways forward are proposed.
BT's interest, as a supplier of services in Australia, and as a company that does provide open and equivalent access to both its traditional and next generation broadband services in the UK, is to provide a set of measured observations.
We want to see a vibrant e-Australia, we want to see competition and innovation and we want to see consumer choice and we have practical experience of providing such an outcome in the UK. We have no commercial interest in the NBN bid and it is in that context that our views should be considered.
The UK broadband market is exceptionally innovative and dynamic and central to this is the way in which BT provides services to a vast range of broadband service providers. BT is a functionally separated business that provides services to both itself and other service providers on a fully equivalent basis that is subject to rigorous oversight by the relevant authorities.
Functional separation is a powerful tool that it could employ to ensure consumers receive value for money, choice, variety, and innovative services across the nation
Not only does BT provide such equivalence for current broadband but also for the next generation broadband services. The provision of equivalence does not stifle our ability or desire to invest; we have just announced a £1.5 billion (AU$3.47 billion) investment program in next generation broadband with full equivalence. We are amongst the world leaders in this area and consider the model to be a highly successful one, despite recent claims in Australian media.
BT is often asked why it does offer such equivalent services to its competitors to enable them to compete on a level playing field; the answer is that all boats rise with the tide and a strong and advanced e-society brings benefits to all who are in that market. And competition is flourishing in the UK market.
BT welcomes the NBN initiative and its broad objectives of lifting all Australian consumers to a new level of broadband enablement through the provision of a fully open access network. It's a bold move by Government and it is only right that the capital investment in the NBN — which comes from the pockets of taxpayers — will provide an appropriate "return" to those very taxpayers as consumers of NBN services.
Consumers understand that they receive the best service at the best price if they have a choice of suppliers that are competing for their business. Effective competition also encourages competitive innovation that will help fuel the growth of the Australian e-society, ensuring the country remains atop world broadband innovation and penetration rates.
BT is firmly of the opinion that the NBN should be required to provide equivalence and that functional separation is a powerful tool that it could employ to ensure consumers receive value for money, choice, variety, and innovative services across the nation.
It can do this best by ensuring the infrastructure to deliver these services provides a fair and competitive landscape for a range of competing providers.
If the NBN procurement process can achieve the above then an e-Australia that is looked to for inspiration from across the globe will be a reality. Surely the people of Australia deserve world class broadband services. BT will help in any way it can in providing ongoing advice and support.
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This is something that Telstra doesn't want to do but that Terria is already. Terria has stated that they will own and run the network but retail any access. Therefore they are already meeting the objectives.