It's hard to even imagine that headline, except perhaps on TheOnion.com or TheSmokingGun.com. But one of the themes running through this blog is that there are many business and legal paths to the goal of broadband ubiquity, and the way we do things here in the U.S. is neither the only, nor necessarily the best, way to achieve that goal. Where am I going with this thought?
Well, yesterday Reuters carried an article discussing a proposal by Australian competitive carriers to build a fiber optic network jointly with with Telstra, the Australian incumbent wireline carrier. According to the article:
Rivals of Australia's Telstra Corp. Ltd. . . . outlined a bold plan to team up with the top phone company to build a A$3 billion ($2.2 billion) high-speed network.
Telstra, which is planning to build its own A$3 billion high-speed network, dismissed the proposal as a "self-serving stunt" saying they could easily build their own network.
The consortium said it was determined to win approval for the shared network, which it said would give all parties equal access to the infrastructure. Company officials said they would seek government backing and intervention from the competition regulator if necessary.
"Any proposal from industry that seeks to promote both investment, improved services and competition is welcome," said Ed Willett, a commissioner with the regulator, told Reuters.
Telstra is close to reaching an agreement with the competition regulator over rules governing rivals' access to the network it wants to build.
The alternate plan comes just weeks ahead of an expected decision by the government on whether to sell its A$24 billion stake in Telstra with regulatory certainty considered key to that decision.
The consortium of seven telecommunications companies, including SingTel's (STEL.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) Optus, says the network it wants to build would reach 30-50 percent more than the four million homes and businesses Telstra says its network would reach.
"The price of wholesale access would be determined up front and with certainty so all parties and investors will know the return on their investment," Paul O'Sullivan, chief executive of Optus, told a media and analysts' briefing.
"All retail telcos including Telstra would pay the same access price to use the new fibre-to-the-node network. That way we would all be on a level playing field."
Telstra spokeswoman Liz Jurman said the consortium had not even approached the top phone company over the plan.
"Together these companies are bigger than Telstra so they could easily build their own private network," Jurman said.
O'Sullivan said details on how much would be invested by each of the parties and how the network would be built had yet to be decided but it was looking at four models including one where Australia would be divided into geographic areas with Telstra responsible for upgrading some of these areas.
Other companies behind the plan are: Internode, Macquarie Telecom, PowerTel (PWT.AX: Quote, Profile, Research), Primus (PRTL.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Soul and TransACT. . . .
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I'm no expert in Australian telecom regulatory politics. This may well be nothing more than a stunt designed to give the competitors more leverage in negotiating for cheaper equal access to the Telstra network. If they did build a single network that was open to all carriers on an equal access basis, however, it would be a fascinating experiment. One thing is certain - they would avoid most of the net neutrality battles that are beginning to consume the U.S. telecom space.
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