Regulation in the Australian telecommunications environment is currently in disarray. It seems as though it’s growing more and more unbalanced and immoral. I support Telstra through-and-though, simply because I see what they are trying to do, as the right thing.

Telstra announced today, in newspapers across the country, that it has $4.1-billion in its hands to build the FTTN network which will produce high-speed broadband between 24-50MBPS. Telstra will not invest until there is regulation in place to stop competitors pinching it at below cost, like it already does with the ADSL network. Is it wrong to protect the shareholders funds?

Sol Trujillo, CEO recently said to the media: “We have competitors and their companies, in some cases, are bigger than Telstra but they don’t invest capital inside this country. They are foreign owned and they like riding on the investment back of Telstra shareholders.”

Why should these companies be given that ability through poor regulation? Simply, the likes of Optus Singtel absolutely have the finances to invest in a network like FTTN but they choose not to as they prefer to piggy-back Telstra’s efforts. And the Government allows this some how?

Consumers tend to have a sour view of Telstra. Thinking Telstra is a money-hungry, monopoly that doesn’t give innocent “little” companies like Optus a chance to compete. How ridiculous. It’s about time they start spending some of their own revenue on technology. I guess it’s the socialist view of Australians.

The only reason why the Next G network, for instance, seems monopolistic is because no other provider has challenged it. As Sol has also said: “success is about: “who can out-innovate, who can out-deliver, who can out-create partnerships and relationships and bring new services to market”. Telstra is encouraging competition, and why not?

Something else in the telco industry that makes my blood boil at the moment is that Optus advertisement that compares Optus’ $49 3G cap-plan to not even a comparable plan by Telstra. A look at the Telstra website will reveal that Telstra does, in fact have an offering very similar to that of Optus. The advertisement uses a $40 non-cap plan, where Telstra actually has a $49 cap-plan. This is a sign of Optus being afraid of fair competition. Why mislead? Are they so insecure that they have to mislead people into buying their product? talk about lack of integrity. How must someone that’s signed-up with Optus, to that understanding feel.

Pajago