In brief A date for round two of the ongoing legal battle between Telstra and Communications Minister Helen Coonan has been set by the Federal Court.
Telstra announced late last week that it intended to take the minister to court after, it claims, the government refused to provide documents relating to the decision to award an Optus-Elders joint venture around AU$1 billion in funding to build a WiMax network covering Australia.
Telstra also put in a tender for the network but said the Minister had failed to make it clear that the bidders could potentially access around AU$1 billion of funding, rather than the AU$600 or so million originally earmarked for the project.
After a preliminary hearing yesterday, the court case will resume on 13 September and is expected to last around two or three days.
Responding to Telstra's court case last week, Coonan said: "This is just a case of an ordinary bid being blown out of the water by an outstanding bid -- and the loser not happy with the umpire's decision. I completely reject the assertions made by Telstra. The process was fair and consistent with both the guidelines, assessment plan and probity requirements."
