Comments on: Not too late for Conroy to stack broadband

By: Miker

Miker — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

There is only one solution and that is to have the Broad Band infrastructure owned by a Federal Enterprise. This not socialism, but the only practical approach where the tyranny of distance prevents the application of usual commercial practise.
The Federal enterprise should be empowered to buy back Telstra's infra-structure and build on it to develop world class facilities; that could let at commercial rates to all private carriers.
Telstra under the 3 amigos will never allow true competition in the market. yet the reality is that that only Telstra has the skill resources to build the new structure. Telstra must be divested of it's infrastructure.

Like wise the public deserves 99.9 % coverage at competitive rates and this can only be guaranteed where the cost of the infrastructure is recovered from equally competing service providers, not one provider like Singtel or Telstra controlling the service.

By: Neil McLachlan

Neil McLachlan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Quoting Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane "The Request for Proposal requires coverage of 98% of the population".

Not quite. My quick reading of the RFP documents indicates that this is just one of the "Commonwealth's objectives for the NBN" and not a requirement. There is ample "wriggle room" later on in the document for the Commonwealth and its advisors to consider and accept any proposal for implementation of the NBN should they choose to do so. The submission requirements are that proponents state "the extent to which the proposal meets the Commonwealth’s objectives for the NBN Project (clause 1.3 of Part 1)." Later on the documents clearly indicate that "proposals will be evaluated to identify the Proposal or Proposals that represent the best value for money on the basis of the evaluation criteria" - none of which directly quote the 98% coverage figure.

In any case, simply discarding a proposal for such a significant project without careful consideration of the content, and purely on the basis of its alleged "non-compliance", would offend a number of probity principles including the "preservation of objectivity in seeking an efficient outcome in a procurement".

Disclosure: Writer is a Telstra BigPond Dealer.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Its amusing Minchin feels sorry for Conroy, I doubt Minchin feels sorry for anyone or anything. Conroy is the worst performer of any Minister and while may be the patsy for the Govts broadband fiasco he has never sounded in control and his answers to the Opposition in the Senate yesterday were nothing short of an excercise in incompetence. Time and again he had to seek advise from his experts and even had to admit some answers were not available. All in all it was shoddy and will not endear him to his boss. He also has a battle on his hands with his attempts to censor the internet. There is a groundswell of opposition to his plans coming from all directions, not because there is a desire to support child pornography, but the bloody minded way he is going about it. This I feel is one battle the Govt has lost even now.

By: paddy

paddy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I still can't understand why the Govt hasn't gone after Telstra harder.
Conroy's spent the last year, ducking and weaving while refusing to
admit that an 800 kg gorilla has him by the throat.
It's embarrassing to watch and we can only hope that he and Garrett
will be the first Rudd ministers to be taken out the back and shot.

Telstra needs a real heavyweight to deal with it in a truly merciless fashion.
The sort of bare knuckle stuff that one could imagine Julia Gillard or John Falkner handing out.

I mean really.....It's not like the public is even *slightly* fond of Sol or his
band of thuggish spin doctors. The Govt needs to twist Barnaby Joyce's arm, get the country MPs onside and go after Telstra in the parliament.

By: Perry Gretton

Perry Gretton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I agree with Miker. Split Telstra into retail and wholesale - as should have been done at the outset - put the wholesale division into government hands, and Sol Trujillo and his monopolistic mates can go whistle.