Telstra has hit back at accusations from rivals that its decision to turn on ADSL2+ in 900 exchanges across Australia was the latest example of the telco "losing a game of chicken with the government".
The contract for Australia's fibre-to-the-node network is now up for grabs but the government has been accused of trying to return Australian broadband to a monopoly system which is just the way the G9 likes it, according to Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy.
The Northern Territory government has bitterly complained about a lack of competition in the telecommunications market that it claims has led to it paying Telstra three to five times more for some communications services than the rest of the nation.
Telstra has officially switched on over 900 ADSL2+ exchanges, amid allegations of spin by the telco over its decision to back down on the issue of regulation.
Labor has said it is prepared to work with the government's existing WiMax plans if it wins the next election -- but the party's shadow Communications Minister is getting the knives out for the Coalition's expert taskforce on fibre-to-the-node.
Much has been made of Telstra's decision to finally stop holding Australia to ransom, and to actually turn on the ADSL2+ equipment it has installed in what is apparently over 900 of its exchanges around the country.
It has been a busy year in telecoms, whether because of the increasingly bitter relationship between Telstra and the government; the awarding of the contentious but (finally) progressive broadband contract to OPEL; the pivotal election that led to a change of government; or the move of 3G mobile technology into the mainstream at last.
There's something immensely gratifying about accomplishing the seemingly impossible -- particularly in IT, where pundits regularly proclaim that a particular technology has hit its physical limits.
A guy I know runs a tiling business, which as far as I can see involves his drinking lots of coffee, making lots of phone calls, and making sure that around a dozen different tilers do the actual hard work. As long as they're busy, he's making money. If he finds enough new business to keep them all going for two weeks, he can take off for Hawaii -- and still be making money.
Sprint's WiMAX roll-out in Baltimore will prove the Australian government's decision to worm its way out of the Opel WiMAX contract was a short-sighted, and ultimately damaging, political stunt that has benefited nobody.
The Australian Labor Party's ICT shadow minister wants a national fibre broadband network and enough skilled people to exploit it.
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