Telstra u-turns on wholesale ADSL2+ exchange bounty

In an about turn from previous avowals not to wholesale ADSL2+ internet at a number of exchanges, Telstra is now looking to resell the high-speed service.

Telstra objections to being compelled to wholesale its ADSL2+ saw the telco hold off greenlighting over 900 exchanges which had been enabled with the high speed connectivity since 2006, saying it feared the ACCC would force it to resell the connection to competitors.

The company only changed its stance when it received a letter from Broadband Minister Senator Conroy, stating the government "did not consider a compelling case had been made for regulating third-party access" in the 900 exchanges.

Following the Minister's comments, Telstra switched on the exchanges and which covered over two million Australians, saying the threat of mandatory reselling had been removed.

At the time, Telstra said there were no current wholesaling agreements and that competitors could access ADSL2+ if they installed their own DSLAMs in exchanges or extended their networks.

Now Telstra has said it is ready to enter into agreements with wholesale customers who want access the newly-switched on ADSL2+: "Telstra is planning to sell ADSL2+ and, as such, we are talking to our wholesale customers about it," the company said.

Telstra added it had always said it would consider selling ADSL2+ if it made commercial sense.

Assurances from the regulator played a major role in enabling the wholesale agreements to be considered, according to the company: "Since we received assurances from the ACCC that they won't interfere we were more confident about taking a look at our commercial options," Telstra said.

The decision makes perfect sense, according to David Kennedy, Ovum telecommunications analyst: "Telstra is pretty happy to wholesale. What they don't like is regulated wholesale," he told ZDNet.com.au.