Telstra Next G?? tagged: , , , , , , ,

Telstra Next G??

Posted by Claire Connelly in Politics, Technology

In an effort to write about something positive for a change, (hi Mum), today I’m going to talk to you about why I’m happy about Rudd’s wholesale screwing over of Telstra.

The federal government is funding a brand new, high-speed, fibre-to-the-home broadband network to be laid out across Australia.

Reforming its original plan to find a private builder for a the new high speed network, the federal government has formed its own construction company, retaining majority interest in the public-private partnership.

Massively more expensive than the original broadband plan – it is estimated to cost around 43 billion dollars of which the government will commit at least $23 billion.

This new fibre optic network will provide the fastest broadband network in the world, delivering a faster service to 90% of Australia – the other 10% of rural Australia will have to settle for wireless or satellite.

A fibre-optic cable that runs directly to the premises means there is no limit to the speed of data flow.

In a fibre-optic network, the data connection moves, literally, at the speed of light, and the cable is infinitely adaptable to technological advances.

The data connection in the current fibre-to-the-node network, is slowed by the copper wire that runs from the network box to the home, causing a bottleneck.

The fibre-to-the-premises network will deliver light-speed data flow all the way to your home.

This network would completely dis-empower Telstra.

There will be no need to tap into the copper wire, which means “no time-consuming litigation, no costly compensation.”

The 7.30 report dug up information from a discussion process paper (unreported on any other channel and not mentioned in any press releases or conferences) that the federal government is planning to split Telstra into two separate operations – Telstra wholesale, and Telstra retail, to increase competition in Australia’s telecommunications industry.

Rudd is being uncharacteristically assertive – decisively reducing Telstra’s monopolistic stronghold of the Australian telecommunications industry, establishing a wholesale network with an open access regime for retail providers across the country.

Telstra’s restructure is predicted to take place by the end of the year.

Though critics are complaining that the government is plunging the country in to even more debt to fund this venture, what they fail to mention is that after watching Telstra and the liberal party drag its feet for the past eleven years, the government has cut at least five to ten years off the technology race.

If we had left it to Telstra to build a proper fibre-optic network (not the so called fibre-to-the-node network they currently have where the connection is high-speed all the way up to the end of your street, where the copper wire that Telstra was too stingy to replace takes over and slows the connection down by up to 80%),

a) it would never happen, and -

b) in the unlikely eventuality that Telstra did finally get its act together, to fund the venture, Telstra subscribers would likely be paying ten times the cost of what we will pay in taxes – in the forms of phone bills, line rental, internet bills, and mobile phone costs at a 300% mark up.

This is not a commercial venture.

It’s about creating new infrastructure – it’s as important as building roads, or schools, or public transport.

It finally opens up competition in telecommunications which Telstra has thoroughly dominated for over a decade.

This network will be a catalyst for new commercial ventures.

Telecommunications will become a new competitive industry for the first time in over sixteen years.

The government (as much as I hate to admit it) is saving companies time and money in this “build it and they will come” venture.

Richard Branson should keep his eyes and ears open – it’d be great to see Virgin or Optus finally give Telstra a run for its money.

It’s forcing them to lift its game, or otherwise they will miss out completely.

This decision leaves Telstra with two options:

- purchase a share in this new infrastructure, or

- update their current infrastructure to meet with the competitive demand that will be created by this new high-speed fibre-to-the-home broadband network .

In other words:

Telstra, shit or get off the pot.