A high level Telstra executive has labelled other potential bidders for the proposed FTTN network as "pretenders" after it was revealed the telco suggested to the government that it attach a multi-million dollar application fee and bond to all its network tender requests.
The Federal government has issued a reminder notice to stakeholders in the national fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network, as the deadline for submissions on the project nears.
Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy officially announced plans to build a 6,900km undersea cable between Guam and Sydney which will become one of the first links in the government's national FTTN network chain.
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.
Opposition Communications spokesperson, Bruce Billson, has misfired in an attack on the Federal government over the use of the AU$2.4 billion Communications Fund to back the national fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network.
Say what you will about Senator Stephen Conroy, but he is clearly not a man afraid of confrontation. Well, he'd better not be, because by killing off the OPEL WiMax project he has just set himself up for a battle with Telstra of Biblical proportions or a big meal of crow washed down with a $4.7 billion gift to SingTel Optus.
Post-election adrenaline surging through his veins, one of the first acts performed by new Communications Minister Stephen Conroy was to disband the expert panel that his predecessor Helen Coonan had appointed last June to evaluate tenders for fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) construction.
Sometimes, a well-placed and well-timed letter can make all the difference. Other times, it can make no difference at all and even hurt your case. This week's missive by the Competitive Carriers' Coalition, I would suggest, falls into the latter category.
For no particular reason that I can discern, a 1979 Kenny Rogers song popped into my head as I was considering the ever more complex morass that is the national broadband network tender which Senator Stephen Conroy defended in his CeBIT keynote speech.
Hillary Clinton's nine lives are not yet depleted and, despite allegations that her stubborn refusal to concede defeat earlier has fragmented her party, she fought her battle to the very end. By placing bets several ways, that battle may just turn into gold for her down the track. Has Optus taken a leaf out of Hillary's book?
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.
New Zealand's new Communications Minister Stephen Joyce has the gargantuan task of dragging New Zealand into the next broadband age, a labour which will take 10 years.
Ovum's David Kennedy says Australia can have a world-leading telecommunications regime if it wants one.
Analysts have responded to the Federal Government's new NBN strategy with optimism, noting that while risky, the plan makes an important break from years of stagnation and promises an important new foundation for Australia's broadband future.
Telstra's decision to upgrade its cable definitely now means that the National Broadband Network won't get built. This policy has ceased to be, it rests in peace. This is an ex-policy.
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