Telstra Active Supporters newsletter No. 18
In this issue:
How to nobble your competitor:
advocate structural separation
What’s the best way to nobble your competitor in the National Broadband Network (NBN) bid? Suggest they are structurally separated.
You wouldn’t ask the Australian swim team to compete with their legs separated from the rest of their body at the Beijing Olympics – it’s a winning combination no one in their right mind would think of interfering with.
But that’s just what other rival bidders are calling for in a self-serving tactic that attempts to tear Telstra apart as a condition of winning the NBN bid.
It is a desperate tactic that’s a mark of those who realise they can’t complete fairly, and whose only chance to win is to knock out the best contender.
Operational separation has not worked anywhere in the world. Evidence shows:
- It massively increases costs
- It reduces efficiencies and innovation
- It takes away any incentives to invest
- Those countries that have toyed with separation have some of the slowest broadband speeds in the developed world and little or no investment in new fibre networks:
- In the UK, BT’s structural separation has locked British consumers into an ADSL-only wasteland - stuck with slow speeds and old technology with investment and innovation in new fibre networks at a standstill
- It would destroy shareholder value:
- In New Zealand, Telecom New Zealand’s shares have been significantly de-rated and shareholder value destroyed. The share price has fallen 30 per cent since the NZ Government put separation on the table
In a fresh breath of sanity this week, the respected independent analysts, Ovum released a report which says separation of Telstra's network and retail businesses could cause serious damage to Australia's telecommunications industry.
But probably most telling of all is the fact that while Optus, one of the Terria’s pushing hardest for separation in Australia, its owner SingTel is arguing strongly against separation in their home country of Singapore. See our Blogtooner’s view of that!
Let’s put paid to this ridiculous, destructive idea once and for all.
Australia needs a strong, integrated telecommunications company that has proven itself ready, willing and able to deliver the world’s best National Broadband Network.
Learn more:
OVUM COMMENT (PDF - 24KB) on structural separation of Telstra by David Kennedy, Research Director: "Naïve approaches to the issue of Telstra separation could do serious damage to the Australian telecommunications industry, according to David Kennedy, Research Director at Ovum…"
More reasons to reject structural separation:
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Broadband helps tackle climate change
Everyone is now talking about climate change, but most people don’t realise how telecommunications is pivotal to tackling the problem.
A vital requirement in reducing Australia’s carbon emissions, increasing productivity and safeguarding our economic and environmental future is the delivery of a high-speed National Broadband Network (NBN).
In a recent address, Telstra's Group Managing Director for Public Policy and Communications, Dr Phil Burgess, said rising fuel and transport prices further highlighted the national importance of building the NBN.
“Telecommunications is the key to work in an energy constrained world, enabling people to substitute telecommunications for travel - as in teleconferencing and telework, where you bring work to people, rather than people to work,” Dr Burgess said.
"Looking into the future, it is clear that telecommunications will help enable teleworking, telemedicine, teleconferencing and other changes to how we work, play and move around.
“These technologies will also be used to help manage the engineered world, be it space, heating, air conditioning, presence-based lighting and improving energy efficiencies. That's why telecommunications infrastructure must be the centre piece - both for the private and the public sector," said Dr Burgess said.
Learn more:
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Australians want high-speed broadband now
Since 2005, Telstra has been ready to build the National Broadband Network. We have the technology, the know-how, the expertise, the resources, the workforce, the local presence and the track record of getting things done. We have proved this with the Next G™ network, the world’s largest and most advanced national wireless broadband network.
Unfortunately, like many complex infrastructure projects involving a wide variety of stakeholders with varying interests, there is always the risk of getting bogged down.
Australia cannot afford to wait even longer for a national high-speed broadband network. That is why Telstra has been critical of the Federal Opposition decision to embark on a Senate Inquiry into the National Broadband Network which is likely to delay key decisions.
The need for urgency is also given added impetus by climate change. Notably, the Government’s climate change adviser, Professor Ross Garnaut (www.garnautreview.org.au) made clear when releasing his draft report on the impacts, challenges and opportunities of climate change on 4 July, that we cannot afford delays:
“The most inappropriate response would be to delude ourselves, taking small steps that create an appearance of action but which do not solve the problem. Such an approach would risk the integrity of our market economy and political processes to no good effect."
In a statement that is also highly relevant to the NBN, Professor Garnaut said:
“Delaying now is not postponing a decision, it’s making a decision. To delay is deliberately to choose to avoid effective steps to reduce the risks of climate change to acceptable levels.”
High-speed broadband, like climate change, is a critical issue for Australia’s future. Without it, we face the prospect of falling behind the rest of the world. Building a world-class National Broadband Network for Australia is a massive and hugely complex job and we must get on with the job.
Australians want high-speed broadband, now. Australia’s future depends on it.
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NBN submissions
There have been 80 public submissions on the regulatory arrangements under the proposed national broadband network, published on the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy website.
Alongside Telstra’s extensive submission, there’s a mixed bag including submissions from local rival bidders Terria, Optus and Acacia; as well as those from Internet giants Google and Skype together with some from individual Australians.
Learn more:
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In the media:
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Newsletter archives
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Authorised by L McGregor, Telstra Corporation Limited, 242 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000