Broadband rethink called for by AAPT bosses

Paul Broad, chief executive of the AAPT has called for the broadband issue to undergo an independent enquiry and the government process to be recast, shortly after pulling the telco of the Terria broadband consortium recently.

Suggesting that the government have got the process “arse-about”, Mr Broad is questioning the basis for investment in the national broadband network.

Consumer demand for ultra-fast services is still something Broad has said still remains questionable and an independent study should be carried out by the Industry commission to find the deficiencies in Australian broadband and work out the problem that needs to be addressed.

Mr Broad said “We have got to come clean and say, does this investment really stack up? We have ADSL 2+ out there today in metro Australia and consumer demand is not such that we have been stretched to the eyeballs.”

Insufficient fast broadband access in non-metropolitan areas is considered by Broad as the current prime issue. But Telstra last week stated that it would be five years before it began build outside of major cities.

He said “What we have to look at is the things we really lack — what are things we are talking about in this broadband debate that are holding us back.”
Areas that had no high speed broadband, said Mr Broad, should still have subsidies applied by Australia.

Mr Broad said “But the Government should ask itself, what is the economic driver for this investment — in excess of $10 billion? Is there another way to do this with the same outcome but more efficiently? Rather than have this debate through a bidding process, there should be an independent, non-aligned body — and the Industry Commission would be a good place to start.”

A number of key players in the industry, including Vodafone and Hutchison, the No3 and 4 mobile networks, weren’t involved in the process, and the mobile and fixed service convergence was one of the sectors major trends.

Mr Broad said “I think we should be definite that the access rules (ensure) no one player gets an advantage. We will be taking a very strong view in how regulatory arrangements can be established in a more open way. I think quite strongly that the lack of rules and the lack of clear regulations when the bids are being put together makes this process 1000 times harder. It seems to me that the rules of the game are being determined by the bid itself, which is completely the wrong way around. The Government’s got it arse-about. The industry, having had a good look at itself, has to say, what is the industry that we want?”