Previously, the list simply contained information identifying the manufacturer and model of ADSL equipment (chiefly modems) that have satisfied Telstra's IP1149 standard.
Telstra has since added date-stamps to each piece of equipment in the list to make clear to users and manufacturers when each device attained interoperability certification. The carrier also added a statement warning anyone using the list to be wary that the list is model-specific.
"Note the specific model numbers of the certified ADSL equipment, the model approval does not imply all that vendor's equipment complies with IP 1149," reads a statement on the site.
Telstra said that the changes were made in order to make the certification process "more transparent" following discussions with modem manufacturers.
"After we discussed it with the equipment vendors they raised this suggestion we thought 'Yep, this is a good idea, let's do it'," said a spokesperson for Telstra.
ZDNet Australia understands that modem manufacturers characterised the previous listing methodology as misleading after it was discovered that D-Link had been distributing one of its modems, the DSL-302G, in high-volume deals without official certification.
D-Link angrily maintained that it submitted the 302G to Telstra's testing procedures but opted not to submit the paperwork to the carrier to attain certification as it did not have enough of the modems to distribute outside exclusive bundling deals it had established with ISPs.
This prompted incredulous responses from retailers that had been distributing the 302G and ZDNet Australia found no evidence that special conditions were attached to reselling the modem.
Competing modem manufacturer Netcomm told ZDNet Australia that D-Link placed the DSL-302G at the centre of a bid for an Optus tender for a large number of modems to be used in conjunction with its forthcoming ADSL service.
Michael Boorne, director of Netcomm, which competed for the tender, claims that Optus had awarded the modem contract to D-Link.
"Optus did write to us on August 8, 2003, advising that NetComm were not the successful Tenderer," wrote Boorne in statement he supplied to ZDNet Australia adding:
"We subsequently learned that Optus had chosen D-Link model 302G for this Tender."
Optus late last month conceded that the request for tender had been placed, but said it was still under consideration at the time we contacted them, denying that the successful applicant had been chosen.
At the time ZDNet Australia had been in correspondence with D-Link over the DSL-302G but it was cut abruptly after we contacted several of the vendor's customers to investigate the matter. Within days, the modem the manufacturer had a change of heart over its strategy not to certify the 302G and it submitted the necessary paperwork to Telstra to have it added to the carrier's CPE list.
At this stage it is unclear whether modem manufacturers are simply using Telstra's list to bludgeon each other's interests or whether there exists a genuine concern over its legal impact on commercial relationships between vendors and manufacturers, and Telstra and its customer ISPs.
Telstra says the certification process is "addressed" in its wholesale service contracts and is "necessary to ensure end-users have access to the quality of broadband services and superior technical support expected from Telstra".
ZDNet Australia has obtained documents indicating that ISPs that authorise use of non-Telstra certified customer equipment could be in breach of Telstra's wholesale ADSL service contract. The contract states:
"The Customer must ensure that Non Telstra Equipment connected to the [DSL Service] at the End User side of the Network Boundary only, has passed Telstra's interoperability tests."
Nevertheless, Telstra appears to takes a very soft-line on the certification process -- a line so soft that some in the industry question the sincerity of Telstra's concern for consumers.
While Telstra places apparent importance on IP1149 compliance, it's not clear which body, if any at all, actually presides over the certification process.
All equipment used on Telstra's network needs to adhere to the Australian Communications Authority's (ACA) safety and emissions standard. However the carrier developed IP1149 certification to ensure that third-party equipment interoperates with its Alcatel-built ADSL network.
Telstra refers equipment vendors to an independent laboratory, Commtest, for compliance testing. However Commtest passively describes its role as supplying a set of test results. The vendor submits those results to Telstra alongside other declarations.
That would seem to leave Telstra holding the whistle.
Not according to Telstra. It insists that it relies on the honour of the equipment vendor to ensure that all the paperwork is in order. The certification process appears to happen in a void of paper-shuffling with no accountable party except the vendor.
"Ultimately it's their equipment. They're the ones that can change it to meet certification requirements and test requirements -- they're the ones that ultimately have to be responsible for their own product if something goes wrong," said the Telstra spokesperson.
