Telstra's broadband targets 'soft': IDC - News - Communications

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Telstra's broadband targets 'soft': IDC

By Staff writers, ZDNet Australia
July 28, 2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Telstra-s-broadband-targets-soft-IDC/0,130061791,120276596,00.htm

Analyst firm International Data Corp has criticised Telstra's target of one million broadband subscribers by 2005 as "soft", claiming the telecommunications heavyweight should exclude wholesale subscriber numbers from that figure.

IDC predicts the number of broadband subscribers in Australia will reach 2.7 million by 2007, equating to market penetration of 13 percent. This figure is based on a compound annual growth rate of 29 percent from the current broadband user base of 449,000.

Landry Fevre, IDC's research program manager, next generation networks, said Telstra was maintaining a very dominant position in the broadband market by owning most of the copper and cable network across Australia. In light of this, IDC says, Telstra should exclude wholesale broadband customers from its target. Fevre notes that despite have "all the characteristics of a sophisticated broadband market," Australia has so far failed to attract subscribers en masse -- an issue which is attributed to high residential broadband entry prices.

Efforts towards accelerating broadband takeup across the country are finally taking shape, but more needs to be done to remain competitive on a global level, noted Fevre. He added that the Australian government, as the majority owner of Telstra, is in the position of regulating a market it dominates.