Appears the coalition may have developed a strategy over the...

Appears the coalition may have developed a strategy over the easter break. I believe it is a strong political move to link the hearings to the soon-to-be released $25M study - the senate committee will be able to review the study when it is released and call for the views from interested parties on the full range of issues from business model, costs, technical aspects etc.

Senate committee to investigate NBN project
Andrew Colley From: Australian IT April 06, 2010 10:59AM THE Senate national broadband network committee will hold a fresh set of public hearings and may hold off on delivering its final report until the federal government reveals findings from its $25 million NBN implementation study.

Committee chair Queensland Liberal senator Ian Macdonald said that new hearings would be held in Sydney or Melbourne on April 14 and in Canberra on April 15.

The committee first flagged its intention to hold the hearings last month when Labor released draft legislation setting out the commercial and regulatory framework for NBN Co but refused to release findings of McKinsey and KPMG's 500-page implementation study on the new network.

The exposure draft revealed that NBN Co may be given permission to retail services directly to government with ministerial assent. That was widely viewed as a bluff to pressure Telstra to cooperate with the government.

At the time, Senator Macdonald said that there were serious questions to be tested over investment model for the network.

Since then, Senator Conroy has promised to release the implementation study in time for the May budget. Senator Macdonald said the committee currently intends to extend its life to include the report in its findings.

"The committee will have to then consider what to do with that when they get their hands on it," he said.

The committee is particularly interested in canvassing views on regulatory provisions in the exposure drafts in which the government appeared to abandon its commitment to ensuring the NBN Co would operate as a purely wholesale entity.

The committee has asked NBN Co, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy to attend the April 14 hearing.

It is also interested in hearing views from other industry players including iiNet, Optus, Vodafone and the Competitive Carrier's Coalition.

Telstra has also been asked to attend but Senator Macdonald was not confident that the carrier would risk jeopardising private negotiations with government over the NBN.