Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy has won the support of the Greens, independent Nick Xenophon and Family First's Steven Fielding to have the government's telecommunications reform legislation debated before the end of the year.
Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy has released two key documents related to the first National Broadband Network process, which may clear the way for the Senate to debate the three key NBN Bills.
The Federal Government today said it wasn't yet sure whether it would publish the multimillion-dollar National Broadband implementation study currently being undertaken by consulting firms McKinsey and KPMG.
NSW Premier Nathan Rees has announced a data feed for RailCorp information, putting an end to the saga that had led to a developer being threatened with legal action for his use of train times in an iPhone application.
A senior associate from law firm Henry York Davis reckons Shadow Communications Minister Nick Minchin failed to adequately argue his case to have the $25,000 in fees to process his NBN document hunt waived.
As Rudd and Conroy railroad the NBN into reality, the Liberals are trying to inject some due process into the whole thing by holding Labor accountable for its decisions. However, with the future of Australian telecoms on the line and no real viable alternative, is it just a bit late for accountability?
The government dumped its well-intentioned bidders and spent the day awash in adulation from an industry that suddenly felt all its Christmases had come at once. But isn't this the same government that, two weeks ago, was warning it had to ditch key election promises for lack of funding?
Is Hackett the Saruman the once-good wizard who is seduced by the dark powers of Sauron of my recent Lord of the Rings scenario? Is something rotten in Renmark and elsewhere?
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.
Like many, I expected Telstra's dismissal was inevitable, given that it had openly flouted the NBN's guidelines and attempted to bend the process to its own wishes. But who would have expected it so soon?
The story of how Telstra lost its network is one of hubris and bungling, of misreading the play in Australia by men from the US who thought they knew everything already. Shareholders should never forget this.
Iif the latest NBN scenario planning is right, David Thodey will have to accept that even an optimal outcome for both Telstra and the government will not deliver dramatic returns for Telstra's one million shareholders.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy needs to stop handing his opposite Nick Minchin free kicks and put some transparency back into the National Broadband Network process before he finds himself losing favour with Chairman Rudd.
A remarkable four-car pile-up is about to happen with the National Broadband Network; goodness knows what will emerge from the wreckage. Maybe there'll be no survivors at all.
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.
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