[LINK] Question about hooking up phones to fibre

[Richard Chirgwin]

Jan,

It sounds like a bit of a gyp. My main question would be to ask whether 
your friend tried to get a standard phone service from Telstra?

The "USO" obligations have not yet been taken away from Telstra. Where 
it is not laying copper, and someone else is in charge of fibre, I 
believe Telstra is permitted to use a wireless link to provide the 
minimum phone service.

To me, it sounds like a TIO matter.

Cheers,
Richard

On 17/10/11 9:35 PM, Jan Whitaker wrote:
> Hi guys
> Hope you can help me out. A friend is in one of the new
> neighbourhoods where Telstra no longer lays copper and a private
> company has the contract to put in fibre as their comms services,
> both phone and internet and I believe even TV. She was telling me
> this morning that they paid $500 for a telephone instrument, 'wired',
> no DECT, just one handset. I was appalled! I told her this didn't
> sound right to me and I'd ask the techperts on Link.
>
> So, weren't we all assured that a standard telephone would hook onto
> the new customer premises equipment for voice services? Or all we all
> going to be hit with having to buy a $500 single phone? Or are they
> being hoodwinked by an unscrupulous provider who thinks they can get
> away with 'murder' advising this as the only option?
>
> These people are complaining to the TIO, but I suggested this sounded
> like a monopoly problem and she should include the ACCC in this one.
>
> Also, just for info, it took over a month for them to get any service
> and the 'techs' (using the term loosely) don't seem to know what
> they're doing. Evidently the company with the contract isn't having
> any luck getting qualified staff to do this stuff. I wonder how the
> NBN projects have managed. It's all well and good to sell the project
> to the public on jobs generated, but if this is the current
> situation, it's going to be a big ask to train enough qualified techs
> to actually fill those jobs.
>
> So, any insight on the issue of the handset?
>
> Thanks,
> Jan
>
>
>
> Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
> blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
>
> Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or
> sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
> ~Madeline L'Engle, writer
>
> _ __________________ _
> _______________________________________________
> Link mailing list
> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
>