Senator Kate Lundy, the Shadow Minister for Information Technology, questioned Telstra during Senate Estimates Committee hearing as to the breakdown of the figure.
"After questioning Telstra in Senate Estimates, I discovered that the paltry offering is scarcely more than a publicity stunt consisting of a mixture of rebadged and inadequately funded projects," said Lundy.
Half of the AU$10 million came from projects that have previously been announced, such as AU$3 million for the upgrade of 100 exchanges to be ADSL enabled and AU$2 million pledged for making Remote Integrated Multiplexes (RIMs) compatible with ADSL.
"Another $1 million will be spent on transferring customers to alternative copper pathways, a trifling amount considering the 1.3 million pair gains services in the network," continued Lundy. "This would equate to an expenditure of less than a dollar for every one of the million or so Australians currently burdened with line splitting (pair gain) technology."
Senator Lundy went on to claim that a privatised Telstra would not spend the money required to provide regional Australians with an up-to-date telecommunications network, continuing the Oppositions fight against a sale of the rest of Telstra. While some media reports indicate the sale may be planned for early next year, other industry pundits argue the Federal Government would be stupid to sell its remaining Telstra share while the price is so low.
In view of the huge profits Telstra are making, $10 million would probably not even show up on the budget. How about making a commitment not a joke!