Telstra to fix 'worst performing' exchange service areas

The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) identified the 54 Exchange Service Areas (ESA) using data from the National Reliability Framework (NRF), supplemented by additional data from Telstra. The ACA launched the investigation in response to a recommendation from the recent Estens Inquiry into the state of telecommunications services in rural and regional Australia.

The ACA has asked Telstra to prepare remediation plans for the 54 ESAs, and the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, has indicated the government's eagerness to improve the service of Telstra in rural and regional areas.

-The government expects Telstra to have remediated the majority of these 54 exchanges by the end of 2003, and all of them by the end of the financial year," the Minister said in a statement.

The Minister acknowledged that fixing the 54 ESAs would not be the final solution. -Fixing problems within these 54 ESAs is not the end of the game. While the NRF data collected to date suggests the network does have a high degree of reliability, the Government expects Telstra to continually work to improve and maintain the quality and reliability of its network, and this is precisely why the NRF was introduced," said Senator Alston.

-The formal undertaking that Telstra will provide in relation to these 54 ESAs is a down payment on an ongoing responsibility to maintain particular performance standards for its network."

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I'll beleive it when it happen ...fenn007 -- 16/08/03

I'll beleive it when it happens and if it doesn't happen now ! when it's needed and 51% government owned, I bet that won't happen when it's privatized.

The Government will just say again "User Pays" just as it's said for the airports it sold off, who are now putting up charges and saying that they are not making money ( enough for them ) so they have ben putting up charges and lobbying the governemt to change the rules.

So guess who gets it in the neck again? You and me and those worst effected the poor rural community.

Telstra cannot be sold off without IRON CLAD conditions of sale.

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Not before time - 18 months ag ...Anonymous -- 16/08/03

Not before time - 18 months ago, Telstra blamed my usb modem for continual dropouts; now I've a serial-connected modem & have been experiencing similar problems & a deteriorating service over the past months, leading me to believe that a) this service is far from up-to-scratch or b) they have too many subscribers for their dialup capacity or c) both of the above! This situation is ludicrous, in view of today's technological advancements & suckers like me still have to pay the same costs as those with better lines. Telstra Broadband is continually poked in front of our noses via TV ads, but in our regional areas it's a moot consideration as it's unavailable to us anyway!!
By the way, I've been disconnected twice while I've been typing this comment - gee whiz, what am I complaining about, huh?
PS: Telstra, the problems appear worse when the ground gets a little wet from even a light shower, believe it or not!

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I'll believe it when I see it; ...Stephen Kuhn -- 16/08/03

I'll believe it when I see it; and I'll believe it even more when Telstra quits playing smoke'n'mirrors and finally delivers what it promises to not only bush areas, but suburban areas that constantly are "promised" dependable service and then "put aside" for a later date because Telstra is busy making profits elsewhere and they see no need to pay attention because it's not profitable...yeah...

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Telstra already thinks it is p ...Terry Fake -- 17/08/03

Telstra already thinks it is privatised; just look at how it treats it customers, as someone already noted; blame everyone elses equipment, play pass the buck, make it impossible to get to a department to discuss technical issues, ad nauseum.
Only enough rectification will be done prior to privatisation to satisfy the ACA then when it is privatised, not if but WHEN as it will happen like it or not and I dont, we will be told "oh this is such an antquatied mess that we will have to increase charges across the board by xxx% and for "these" services the inital fees have become greater than the national debt.

Even NZ the size of Sydney gets a better deal with competition than the whole of OZ.

We are supposed to have competition in our telcos - not at the grass roots we certainly dont.

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