TOCPCs – The Elite Geeks Blog

Simon Hackett, and other ISPs have been wanting to get their hands on ADSL2+ from Telstra Wholesale since the release of the product.

However, after they attempt to navigate, and visit adsl2+_wholesale.html, they are coming across a 404 page, meaning that there is no wholesale of ADSL2+.

Sol Trujillo has long been targetting to trash the wholesale division of Telstra, which just happens to be one of Telstra’s most profitable divisions, and instead tries to force retail.

Internode’s MD, Simon Hackett, along with several other ISPs, have made an official complaint to the ACCC over Telstra’s lack of ADSL2+ wholesale services.

The grounds they base it on are in part of XIB of the Trade Practices Act.

They cite that there isn’t much of an alternative, due to a few reasons:
1. Untenably high wholesale transmission pricing.
Essentially, they are saying wholesale transmission from the only supplier in the regional exchange areas, is so excessive that they wouldn’t be able to maintain a service.

2. Capped exchanges.
They seem to claim that Telstra is saying there is no room to install other equipment in exchanges, but for some strange reason, Telstra doesn’t want to consider solutions to the exchanges being full, and further, have claimed some exchanges have been demonstrated by Telstra as full, despite evidence to the contrary.

3. Delays for approval to access exchanges to install equipment
Basically, the argument here is they want to install ports, but, they must wait for a competitor to finish, and then whoever is next in line gets a turn, however, the process can take 2 years to upgrade or access infrastructure, but, Telstra for some reason can upgrade its own services in 48 hours, giving reason to believe Telstra is exempt from its own exchange access rules, and demonstrates anticompetitive behaviour.

I can see some good points there, they are indeed true when you take a look at the areas, and the claims made.

But, that said, is wholesale ADSL2+ the answer, or is cheaper backhaul the answer?

I think the real answer is cheaper backhaul, so investment is encouraged in facilities based equipment, so perhaps the dispute shouldn’t be a request for wholesale ADSL2+, but rather, a request for affordable backhaul.

Perhaps it needs a new set of regulations covering backhaul only, where if a competitor enters the market, the regulations cease to apply the moment they are open for service.

That way, investment is encouraged, at the same time, Telstra can still profit the moment someone else invests.

The backhaul rates don’t need to be bargain basement, and definitely shouldn’t be, but put them at a level where they are in reach if they really want it, and out of reach if they want a cheap ride. Most are looking for affordable, and I’m sure there is room for that to be the case.

The delays issue is a complex one. They could change policy to isolate, but an exchange is generally a work area for one project. Fitting additional ports should be an easy situation, but adding an additional build, should probably wait til the previous project has finished to ensure that there are no complications in the exchange.

Any one familiar with the term spaghetti? Telstra’s network should not be one.

So, I can see the case there, but I can’t see Telstra being hit hard, just instead, a arbitration happening to assist with working out backhaul pricing on a fair scale, and sorting out the access issues.

There’s absolutely no need for wholesale ADSL2+. It’s pure laziness to expect to be riding on Telstra’s infrastructure, if you can roll out your own, and Optus has been able to in some regional areas, so I imagine the same can be true for others once the backhaul problem is edited a little.

Enjoy!