[LINK] Telstra dummy-spit on NBN & structural separation

[Stilgherrian]

On 26/10/2008, at 10:08 AM, David Boxall wrote:
> <http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/two-tussle-on-the-broadband-network/1340541.aspx 
> >
> Geoff Booth, managing director of Telstra Country Wide is reported as
> saying:
>> "We cannot submit a tender, we will not submit a tender … people  
>> think we're playing a bluff here, but I spoke to the chairman  
>> yesterday, and the CEO this morning, and the message is clear: we  
>> will not bid if separation is not taken off the table."

Well, Telstra, don't submit a tender then! [shrugs] Honestly, no-one  
cares.

What's the "bluff", Telstra? That the government will just choose  
another entity to give the funding to? One which doesn't piss away  
their time and energy with all this bitching and moaning? One which  
doesn't have the overhead of a bloated, inefficient workforce working  
within bloated, inefficient silo structures? Ooooh... I'm scared!

Dear Telstra, the sooner you realise that you're no longer the only  
telco which can do business in Australia, the sooner your senior  
executives stop acting like spoiled-brat children with all this  
attention-seeking tantrum-throwing, the sooner you simply STFU and get  
on with the job of offering value-for-money services to the Australian  
public and therefore making a healthy profit for your shareholders,  
the happier everyone will be.

Oh, and while you're at it, just drop this whole "We're a content  
company" bull. I know that television is a whole lot more sexy that  
building comms networks, but you don't have the experience and you've  
got more important issues on your plate. Stop with the "look at the  
shiny objects" routine which is -- clearly! -- a strategy to distract  
shareholders from the core problems which you really, really need to  
address.

Telstra does have some good bits. I'v been playing with the NextG  
network and I've been very impressed -- and I'll write about that  
another time. [*] But too much of Telstra believes its own hype about  
being a "premium service" when the service is exactly the same  
commodity comms that other telcos provide, but with less-effective  
customer service.

Honestly, Telstra, you have the key advantages of having the biggest  
market share, the biggest mind share and inheriting a taxpayer-funded  
infrastructure. What ELSE do you want? If you can't make it work with  
this HUGE head start then just piss off and leave it to someone who can.


> TERRiA chairman Michael Egan is reported to have responded:
>> "We're arguing that the National Broadband Network should be  
>> completely independent of any existing retailer, or even upstream  
>> user like a media company or content provider,"
>
> I'm with Egan.

Yes. We're talking about a national data network here... the very  
nervous system for our nation's future. It's too important to be left  
to "market forces" and a bunch of squabbling schoolchildren.

Stil



* DISCLOSURE: Telstra Countrywide provide me with a free NextG account  
and HSUPA card.


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