Australians To Get Faster Broadband

The Age

Thursday February 7, 2008

Katharine Murphy, National Affairs Correspondent, Canberra

AUSTRALIANS will finally get access to faster broadband speeds with Telstra ending its obstruction and agreeing to activate 900 exchanges around the country over the next 200 days.

Telstra had refused to switch on its high-speed ADSL 2+ internet service in some areas because of a long-running regulatory dispute with the previous Howard government.

But the impasse has been broken following a decision by new federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to provide Telstra with a letter that says there is no compelling case to "declare" its network - a process that could give Telstra's competitors access to its network - "at this time".

A quarter of Telstra's proposed ADSL 2+ activations will be in Victoria.

Telstra has declined to reveal its full schedule, claiming commercial reasons, but The Age has been told that exchanges in Collingwood, Warrnambool, Lakes Entrance and Sale will be upgraded within the week.

The Deer Park exchange will be upgraded within 48 hours. Camperdown will be upgraded within three weeks, but it could take 200 days to upgrade the service in the suburb of Grovedale on the outskirts of Geelong.

Consumers on Telstra's premium high-speed internet packages will get the ADSL 2+ upgrade at no extra cost, but people on cheaper broadband packages will have to pay more if they want the faster speeds.

Telstra's competitors were dismissive of yesterday's announcement. An Optus spokeswoman said it was clear Telstra had acted only because it feared competition.

"There's been nothing to stop Telstra switching on these exchanges up until now. In fact, even after the ACCC effectively gave Telstra the green light to expand their high-speed broadband footprint . . . (Telstra) continued to hold Australians to ransom by refusing to activate ADSL 2+," the Optus spokeswoman said.

Telstra's decision to switch on the ADSL 2+ service intensifies its efforts to cultivate relations with the new Government.

The stakes are high for Telstra. It wants to switch off its old CDMA phone network, a move contingent on the Rudd Government's approval, and it wants to build the Government's proposed fibre-optic network.

Relations between Telstra and the Howard government broke down in acrimonious public disputes about policy and regulation.

Telstra chief Sol Trujillo yesterday praised the "vision" of the new Government at a function in Canberra and said the Rudd Government had exhibited a "sensible pro-investment approach to regulation".

Senior Telstra executive Phil Burgess was even more effusive: "We are happy to see a government that wants to do things."

Dr Burgess conceded the undertaking from the Government was not a guarantee that Telstra's competitors would not win access to the network.

Mr Conroy's letter says any final decision on regulation would be "a matter for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission".

© 2008 The Age

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