The national carrier has said the federal government's decision to cancel the Optus-Elders (OPEL) consortium's rural WiMax network contract was a matter of "common sense", after Communications Minister Stephen Conroy gave indications as late as yesterday that he was still considering the proposal.
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.
After Bruce Billson, Opposition spokesperson for Communications, claimed yesterday that the federal government is planning on cutting subsidies to rural and regional broadband providers, a number of industry sources have cast doubt on whether the policy axe has been raised over the Australian Broadband Guarantee.
Optus believes that Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's decision to scrap plans for an AU$1 billion WiMax network, set to be built by Optus-Elders (OPEL), was "flawed" and the telco has left the door open for legal action.
As Telstra prepares to close off its CDMA network at the end of the month amidst concerns over customer migration to Next G, industry observers have said that after the dust settles the new network could hold promise for bush users.
Last week, a family friend rang for some technical help. "Telstra sold me this wireless Internet service and they promised it would work both at my home and at my office," he said. Said home is in the Melbourne CBD, and said office is in Kyneton, a lovely town about an hour away from Melbourne.
Will the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee's report linger as simply yet another ineffectual review guiding limp and ineffectual efforts to improve regional services?
Rejecting Telstra's proposal, after all, is the only conclusion Conroy can reach: as someone whose entire philosophy is built around transparency and process, he simply cannot keep Telstra as part of the NBN bidding process anymore.
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.
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.
An analysis by representatives of Australia's two largest IT industry groups shows that neither political party in the federal election has come up with a comprehensive policy around technology.
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