It seems things just go around in circles in the Broadband realm, with the only forward momentum being competition induced innovation.
I suppose the entire industry isn’t to blame for the circling, because a lot of spin comes from Telstra, and well, you can’t have a whirlpool without a violent circular aquatic movement.
Despite the rubbish coming from Telstra’s spin cycle, it’s become a little more obvious as to why ISPs want wholesale ADSL2+: The same old reasons as before.
Telstra turns on ADSL2+ at 900 exchanges, old news. Competitors haven’t been able to find viable entry points into those exchanges for backhaul, old news.
A new competition notice for Telstra, forcing it to wholesale ADSL2+ at current ADSL1 prices. New news, still in progress, but I believe it’ll becoming a reality soon.
Prices on ADSL1 falling? New news, possibly won’t happen, but, it could become a reality.
xDSL services being declared? New news, possibly won’t happen.
Here’s the real beauty from the lawyers letter to the ACCC:
..”commencement of an enquiry into Telstra’s structural seperation”..
Now that’s a juicy item to be added to a letter to ACCC Graeme Samuel (incase you are unaware, linky: http://www.internode.on.net/pdf/news-media/accc-telstra-adsl2plus.pdf)
The goal is to obviously force the hand of the ACCC to require Telstra to wholesale ADSL2+ at areas where there is no visible future of wholesale ADSL2+ from any other provider, and due to poor backhaul costs, there is not likely to be any.
Alternatively, they suggest backhaul costs be investigated.
Alternatively, they suggest tearing Telstra’s limbs apart, and structurally seperating the company to completely prevent regulatory issues that are occurring.
It’s got some juicy information there for the uninformed too, such as making it clear that ADSL1 and ADSL2+ from Telstra are basically the one and the same technology, and the services are artificially shaped.
And it’s also got claimed evidence that they can prove Telstra said an exchange was full, where in fact it was not (I think this would be in the form of “running out of MDF space”, yet “more ports being added”.
The action should shed some light, and hopefully get a bit more of a desirable outcome now that the ACCC has a focus for facilities based competition (YAY! A Commission that actually has some good goals for an industry).
The other claim in the document was that Telstra’s retail arm Bigpond is likely to lock customers into lengthy contracts, that by the time anyone could possibly determine it safe to invest in an area, all the customers could be locked up in 2 year contracts or worse.
And, they bought to light the refusal to participate in the transfer process, basically eliminating Bigpond customers from transferring quickly to an ADSL2+ service, forcing them to disconnect first (unattractive to users like me for example, who like an active connection and minimal to no downtime).
They also stated that Telstra has no incentive to invest in technologies or improve performance (and so, they won’t).
They are seeking a competition notice, which should force the hand some more, but, you guessed it, that Whirlpool branded washing machine knob that Telstra has a hand on, is just going to get turned back around, and Phil Burgess will have started yet another spin cycle.
In the meantime, the clothing in the washer has well and truly dried, yet the washer is still pumping out the remaining juice from the spin cycle.
Time for structural seperation? Probably not. A foot up Phil’s Hugh-Ass should do it.
Enjoy!
3 responses so far ↓
1 true // Feb 28, 2008 at 8:45 am
Don’t believe one optimistic word from any public figure about the economy or humanity in general. They are all part of the problem. Its like a game of Monopoly. In America, the richest 1% now hold 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH. Unlike ‘lesser’ estimates, this includes all stocks, bonds, cash, and material assets held by America’s richest 1%. Even that filthy pig Oprah acknowledged that it was at about 50% in 2006. Naturally, she put her own ‘humanitarian’ spin on it. Calling attention to her own ‘good will’. WHAT A DISGUSTING HYPOCRITE SLOB. THE RICHEST 1% HAVE LITERALLY MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. Don’t fall for all of their ‘humanitarian’ CRAP. ITS A SHAM. THESE PEOPLE ARE CAUSING THE SAME PROBLEMS THEY PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT. Ask any professor of economics. Money does not grow on trees. The government can’t just print up more on a whim. At any given time, there is a relative limit to the wealth within ANY economy of ANY size. So when too much wealth accumulates at the top, the middle class slip further into debt and the lower class further into poverty. A similar rule applies worldwide. The world’s richest 1% now own over 40% of ALL WORLD WEALTH. This is EVEN AFTER you account for all of this ‘good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS from celebrities and executives. ITS A SHAM. As they get richer and richer, less wealth is left circulating beneath them. This is the single greatest underlying cause for the current US recession. The middle class can no longer afford to sustain their share of the economy. Their wealth has been gradually transfered to the richest 1%. One way or another, we suffer because of their incredible greed. We are talking about TRILLIONS of dollars. Transfered FROM US TO THEM. Over a period of about 27 years. Thats Reaganomics for you. The wealth does not ‘trickle down’ as we were told it would. It just accumulates at the top. Shrinking the middle class and expanding the lower class. Causing a domino effect of socio-economic problems. But the rich will never stop. They will never settle for a reasonable share of ANYTHING. They will do whatever it takes to get even richer. Leaving even less of the pie for the other 99% of us to share. At the same time, they throw back a few tax deductable crumbs and call themselves ‘humanitarians’. IT CAN’T WORK THIS WAY. This is going to end just like a game of Monopoly. The current US recession will drag on for years and lead into the worst US depression of all time. The richest 1% will live like royalty while the rest of us fight over jobs, food, and gasoline. Crime, poverty, and suicide will skyrocket. So don’t fall for all of this PR CRAP from Hollywood, Pro Sports, and Wall Street PIGS. ITS A SHAM. Remember: They are filthy rich EVEN AFTER their tax deductable contributions. Greedy pigs. Now, we are headed for the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time. SEND A “THANK YOU” NOTE TO YOUR FAVORITE MILLIONAIRE. ITS THEIR FAULT. I’m not discounting other factors like China, sub-prime, or gas prices. But all of those factors combined still pale in comparison to that HUGE transfer of wealth to the rich. Anyway, those other factors are all related and further aggrivated because of GREED. If it weren’t for the OBSCENE distribution of wealth within our country, there never would have been such a market for sub-prime to begin with. Which by the way, was another trick whipped up by greedy bankers and executives. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. The credit industry has been ENDORSED by people like Oprah, Ellen, Dr Phil, and many other celebrities. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. So don’t fall for their ‘good will’ BS. ITS A LIE. If you fall for it, then you’re a fool. If you see any real difference between the moral character of a celebrity, politician, attorney, or executive, then you’re a fool. WAKE UP PEOPLE. The 1% club will always say or do whatever it takes to get as rich as possible. Without the slightest regard for anything or anyone but themselves. Vioxx. Their idea. Sub-prime. Their idea. NAFTA. Their idea. Outsourcing. Their idea. The commercial lobbyist. Their idea. The multi-million dollar lawsuit. Their idea. $200 cell phone bills. Their idea. $200 basketball shoes. Their idea. $30 late fees. Their idea. $30 NSF fees. Their idea. $20 DVDs. Their idea. Subliminal advertising. Their idea. The MASSIVE campaign to turn every American into a brainwashed credit card, pharmaceutical, love-sick, celebrity junkie. Their idea. All of which concentrate the world’s wealth and resources and wreak havok on society. All of which have been CREATED AND ENDORSED by celebrities, athletes, and executives. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. So don’t fall for their ‘ good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS. ITS A SHAM. NOTHING BUT TAX DEDUCTABLE PR CRAP. Bottom line: The richest 1% will soon tank the largest economy in the world. It will be like nothing we’ve ever seen before. and thats just the beginning. Greed will eventually tank every major economy in the world. Causing millions to suffer and die. Oprah, Angelina, Brad, Bono, and Bill are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem. EXTREME WEALTH HAS MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. WITHOUT WORLD PROSPERITY, THERE WILL NEVER BE WORLD PEACE OR ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL. Of course, the rich will throw a fit and call me a madman. Of course, their ignorant fans will do the same. You have to expect that. But I speak the truth. If you don’t believe me, then copy this entry and run it by any professor of economics or socio-economics. Then tell a friend. Call the local radio station. Re-post this entry or put it in your own words. Be one of the first to predict the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time and explain its cause. WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.
2 Sydney Lawrence // Feb 28, 2008 at 9:20 am
Interesting article by “true said” probably true but what to do about it is the question.
Jason you still persist with your fabrication that Australian consumers can be assisted by the creation of false competition by the ACCC. It is a fact that, in business, you cannot build up the weak by pulling down the strong.
Also, it is a fact that Telstra is well and truly accepted by the Australian public as the best value, considering the higher quality of service provided, MediaComms in the Country and their opposition must invest money if they hope to survive in competition with Telstra.
More importantly they must forget the old cunning tactic of the parasite freeload financed by the Australian taxpayer which the Rudd Government will no doubt stop.
3 The Elite Geek // Feb 28, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Sydney,
What is agreeable is that there must be an increase in competition in regional areas.
What isn’t acceptable is that those competitors must be able to source backhaul from a provider who isn’t involved in a conflict of interest with it’s own backhaul network, which is essentially the story with Telstra.
I’m not saying that they can be assisted with falsified competition as a whole, in fact previous posts have suggested as much.
What actually needs to happen? Duplicate backhaul built to regional areas.
What is likely to happen, for a few reasons, such as lack of commercial demand (as in big business), is that instead, Telstra will need to create ADSL2+ via a wholesale market, so that the monopoly is broken.
This is a ‘iffy’ style case.
The lawyers make some solid, and proven points (and have evidence to back it up).
The ACCC have long said they love facilities based competition (so do I!).
Telstra have said they don’t wish to share ADSL2+ with any competitor.
It’s a conflicting situation, I wrote about the conflicting situation a short while ago, essentially there is merit to having wholesale ADSL2+ from Telstra, just as there is merit in forcing Telstra to NOT wholesale it, and force competitors to invest.
What can’t happen however, is competitors forced to invest in a market where the dominant supplier holds significant power over smaller competitors, such as this case with backhaul, and so, the best situation will probably be to sort the backhaul and exchanges issues out.
The lazy (and likely – it is a government department) way out is to force wholesale of ADSL2+ at prices below Bigpond retail.
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