Optus has threatened to pull out of the fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) tender process unless the government approves operational separation for Telstra and a delay to the bid deadline, while Telstra has threatened to withdraw if it does.
Telstra PR spinner Rod Bruem would want to have a lot of confidence in the carrier's legal team today.
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.
The competition to build the national fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) broadband network has started today, with Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy officially calling for telcos wanting to build the network to come forward.
Telstra is unlikely to win the right to build the proposed national high-speed broadband network if it insists on wholly owning it and demands an annual return of 18 per cent, an analyst says.
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.
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.
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.
With the OPEL bid cancelled and procedural questions dogging the FTTN bid, Australia is currently in something of a technological limbo.
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.
Ovum's David Kennedy says Australia can have a world-leading telecommunications regime if it wants one.
Can Chrome give Internet Explorer a run for its money?
ZDNet correspondent Sumi Das talks with Senior Editor Sam Diaz about the perks and pitfalls of the newly relea… Watch it now
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