Eleven of Australia's second-tier telcos and Internet service providers have banded together to plan a major statement in Canberra tomorrow on broadband and telecommunications regulation.
The unprecedented level of industry cooperation is seeing AAPT/PowerTel, Austar, iiNet, Internode, Macquarie Telecom, Primus, Telarus, TransACT, Unwired and Westnet "unite" for what the group is dubbing a "major news announcement affecting broadband/telecommunications regulation in Australia", scheduled for Wednesday morning at Parliament House.
Spokespeople for the group as a whole and separately from iiNet, Unwired and Internode declined to comment today on the nature of the announcement.
However, the group's plans come as Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan has recently appeared to give ground on the issue of modifying Australia's telecommunications regulatory regime to facilitate the construction of a nationwide fibre broadband network by Telstra.
Telstra has been campaigning hard for a raft of changes since its proposal for a fibre network ground to a halt last year after fruitless discussions with the competition regulator on terms of rival access.
A rival consortium of Telstra's competitors known as the G9 -- and including many of the telcos grouping for tomorrow's announcement -- is currently preparing an alternate fibre network proposal.
If Telstra was successful in winning favour for its proposal with Coonan and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, its plans could put at risk infrastructure rollouts currently underway by many of the 11 second-tier telcos grouping tomorrow.
