Telstra break-up now called for by Optus

Calls for the structural separation of Telstra have now been joined by Optus, who has advised that for the Governments $43 billion National Broadband Network to be a success there are four critical regulatory changes it deems necessary.

The announcement of the termination of the old NBN and its replacement with an enterprise owned by the state that would build a fibre-to-the-home network costing $43 billion was made by the Government on the 7th April.

Following this Stephen Conroy, the Communications Minister, called for a range of new regulations to be submitted amid fears that the successful rollout of the NBN would be hinders by Telstra’s use of its considerable market power.

A range of regulatory changes have now been revealed by Optus that it believes the Government must enforce, with the submission deadline of June 3 just weeks away.

More effective powers for the competition watchdog, cost-based pricing for all participants, equal network access and of course the structural separation of Telstra are the four pillars of regulatory reform required, according to the 60 plus page proposal made by Optus.

Andrew Sheridan, the regulatory affairs general manager for Optus said “We are very pleased that the Government has recognised that the current system has failed consumers, but if the Government thinks that the model that best serves customers is the one that has been highlighted for the NBN, then it should be implemented now.”

He also said that only if Telstra were structurally separated could regulatory reform set a level playing field for everyone who sought access.

The prospect of “functionally separating” the operations of Telstra’s network from all its other divisions were canvassed in Senator Conroy’s discussion paper, but far stricter measures are being called for by Optus.

Mr Sheridan said “Telstra’s two divisions would be run separately so it wouldn’t have the same incentives as it does now to discriminate. In fact it would have very strong incentives to try and maximise usage of the NBN.”