telecommunications: September 2007 Archives

Telstra just don't know when to quit...  News.com.au reports that:

TELSTRA has warned the expert panel assessing bids for the Federal Government's national broadband build that it must follow "best practice tender procedures" or "be vulnerable" to a challenge.

Literal translation: run the tender the way we say it should be run, or we sue.  Another manifestation of Telstra's current "give us the money and nobody gets hurt" philosophy.

The ACCC are bringing proceedings against Telstra, alleging contraventions of ss 52 and 53 of the TPA in Telstra's promotion of their "NextG" network.  Specifically, it is alleged that Telstra have engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by representing that the NextG network "covers the entire country" and "has coverage everywhere you need it".  The ACCC are seeking interim injunctions against the advertising.

Telstra, true to form, have accused the ACCC of conspiring against them, saying that:

The ACCC is clearly hand in glove with the Government in doing everything it possibly can to undermine the interests of Telstra shareholders.

and that

This is anti-consumer, anti-investment, petty, regulatory garbage when Telstra is building a world's best mobile network with speeds as fast as any equivalent network in the world.

If Telstra dig the hole they're in any deeper, they'll be swimming in magma.

This just gets weirder and weirder...  After reporting three days ago that Telstra were suing Senator Coonan for the second time, Telstra has accused Coonan of having "misled members of the public to believe they are unable to acquire services from Telstra and that they can only acquire those services from Telstra's competitors."  Telstra have reportedly asked the ACCC to investigate.  Good luck establishing that Coonan's statements were made "in trade or commerce."

When Telstra took the federal government and ACCC to the High Court, arguing that the telecommunications access regime in Part XIC of the Trade Practices Act was unconstitutional, it signalled a new low point in the historically rocky relationship between the incumbent monopoly telco and the federal government.

When Telstra sued the federal communications minister, Helen Coonan, over her decision to award funding to a competitor to deliver rural broadband infrastructure and services, it was hard to imagine that things could get any worse.

Today brings news that Telstra is suing Coonan again, this time over her decision to amend the conditions of their carrier license to prevent the impending shut-down of Telstra's rural CDMA network, until such time as the replacement "NextG" network was an adequate replacement.

Telstra are sending an unmistakable message to the federal government - do anything to us that we don't like and we'll haul you into court.  Especially if it involves giving money or business to our competitors.

Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo has said that things could not be worse for Telstra under a Labor government.  I'm sure Telstra are praying for a change of government, because they have well and truly burned their bridges with the coalition.