The Western Australian Government has named a backhaul telecommunications link between Perth and Geraldton as its top priority in negotiations with the Federal Government on the $43 billion National Broadband Network.
Outspoken telecommunications stalwart David Havyatt has called for the industry to shower the federal broadband department with unsolicited submissions on the National Broadband Network.
The victory of New Zealand's National Party in the country's elections over the weekend has vaulted the creation of a $1.5 billion national fibre broadband network to the top of the government's agenda.
The national broadband network will not be fast enough for Tasmanian businesses, according to consumer action group Digital Tasmania, and could even mean further delays for the Basslink cable.
2008 was a cracker year for telco in Australia, with so many huge events happening that those at the beginning of the year have been drowned by the importance of those at the end.
Should Telstra be investing in a pre-emptive defence against the NBN? Or should it go slow and wait like everybody else?
Like the engineers that sat down on day one with an empty blackboard and a mission to get man to the moon and back, building the NBN from the ground up is a daunting and complex opportunity that will present more than its share of challenges.
Time will tell how the rest of the NBN Co board shapes up, but it's hard to dismiss the credentials of its two most high-profile appointments so far.
Rural areas will be welcoming the government's decision to put its money where its politicising is, funnelling $250m into a regional fibre upgrade to six rural centres. Remedying over a decade of near-neglect at the hands of telecoms privatisation, the investment could be the firmest step yet for Labor's NBN dream but with inevitable political questions and a looming election, Rudd and Conroy need to deliver, and quickly, to preserve the NBN's credibility.
Like the one ring of Sauron, the power of Telstra's copper loop twists the minds of its ever-scheming board, which hid in its Collins Street boardroom until it was wrenched from its grasp by the forces of deregulation and the undead armies of ACCC head Graeme Samuel.
The proposed regulatory reforms ahead of the roll-out of the National Broadband Network rely on a finely balanced carrot and stick approach. But will Telstra cooperate with the government's ultimatum?
Hoffman's position on the board will ensure that the National Broadband Network Company can engage with the content industry in a meaningful way.
Loosening the regulatory controls on Telstra might actually make it easier to attract customers away from its copper network and onto the new and shiny National Broadband Network.
Former Communications Minister Richard Alston writes that it is critically important to reinvigorate the competitive process in Australia's telecommunications industry with the National Broadband Network and not simply replace one behemoth with another.
Telstra's bid was a total stuff-up and whoever wins the right to build the fibre-to-the-node NBN will be held up by a High Court challenge from Telstra on every conceivable ground.
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