[LINK] Broadband in Canberra not for apartments

[Ivan Trundle]

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Ivan Trundle
Manager, communications and publishing
Australian Library and Information Association
PO Box E441 Kingston 2604 AUSTRALIA
ph +61 2 6285 1877  fx +61 2 6282 2249
http://www.alia.org.au  ivan.trundle@alia.org.au


>>> "Chirgwin, Richard" <Richard.Chirgwin@informa.com.au> - 11/03/02 11:22 AM >>>
>1) I think there's a regulatory loophole - it's possible for a carrier to
>wrap up an exclusive deal with a body corporate that keeps competitors out
>of the deal. 

It may well be possible - I live in a body-corporate-controlled environment (and Transact are cabling in the street as we speak) - but in the ACT at least, the body corporate decides what kind of relationship they wish to have with suppliers of any service. 

In ours, we decreed that all carriers would be allowed equal access - with no exclusive rights. There was no administrative cost, other than the cost of sending a note around to all owners and gaining consent by the required margin (it did not need to be 100%, and no-one with half a mind would have objected anyway).

We still have the hassle of working out where the cabling will go - all cables are underground and the houses are far enough apart to present some logistic problems for the cable guys.

Ivan Trundle