conroy to release study

Article from The Australian - recent "old" news regarding study to be released. Some interesting quotes in article.

Disappointed in coalition's spokesmen - he needs to add more depth to his case and public comments - at the moment he appears to be like one of those toy dolls that when you push a button the same words are spouted everytime.

The more one reads you can't but draw the conclusion that it would only be through sheer bloody mindness for the NBN to proceed without TLS' ducts - but we are dealing with politicians aren't we!!! Can't see the Greens allowing overhead cables to be the primary route though.


Conroy to show his hand on national broadband network
James Chessell From: The Australian March 25, 2010 12:00AM
COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy has finally agreed to release an implementation study on the national broadband network, and claims the 500-page report will back his claim the federal government can build the multi-billion-dollar project without Telstra.

Senator Conroy yesterday responded to political pressure from opposition and Greens senators by announcing he would make the entire study by McKinsey and KPMG public before the federal budget in May.

The study has been a key obstacle in the government's attempt to pass legislation that would separate Telstra's wholesale and retail arms, if the telecommunications giant does not agree to merge its network and customer base with the NBN.

Senator Conroy and Telstra management have been locked in lengthy negotiations over the NBN, but have been unable to resolve what Telstra last week called a "significant gap" over what each party believed its infrastructure was worth.

Senator Conroy would not comment on a suggestion he had given Telstra a one-month deadline or that the government should make up the valuation gap, but indicated the negotiations would be resolved soon. "There will come some time in the not too distant future -- I am not defining that as two weeks or four weeks or six weeks -- where either we are able to reach an agreement based on agreed assumptions or we are not," he said.

"No question, and I've said this many many times, that it would be faster to build and cheaper to build if there is an agreement with Telstra. (But) I think when you see the business case in the lead advisers' report (in the study) a lot of the commentary which has been wildly inaccurate -- and I mean wildly inaccurate -- will be put to bed."

Senator Conroy's claim that federal government can build the the NBN's high-speed fibre technology -- which is expected to cost as much as $40 billion -- without Telstra contradicts the views of commentators and analysts who believe the project is not viable without access the telco's vast network of ducts and pipes.

Telstra's existing copper network and customer base is considered by many as too large a competitive threat to operate alongside the NBN.

An Australian National Audit Office report into the original NBN tender process cited Department of Communications analysis that found "although a (fibre) network could co-exist with copper-based broadband networks, the amount of government assistance on offer meant it was unlikely to be commercially viable for reasons that included its ability to attract enough customers to cover its costs and that it would still require access to Telstra's customer access network".

Senator Conroy described negotiations between the government and Telstra chairman Catherine Livingstone and chief executive David Thodey as constructive. "There continues to be, notwithstanding the media frenzy, a very constructive dialogue between the new leadership at Telstra . . . and ourselves," he said. "One way or the other I can't imagine we will still be having discussions in June and July, but I am not setting a deadline."

The negotiations have weighed on the Telstra share price, which closed 4c lower at $3.08 yesterday. The stock is down 10 per cent for the year to date.

A spokesman for opposition communications spokesman Tony Smith would not say if the opposition believed the NBN could be built without Telstra. "Senator Conroy simply makes it up as he goes along," he said. "He has embarked on a wild $43bn taxpayer-funded bet without a business plan or a cost-benefit-analysis."