Aussie telco menaced by threat of copper snip

Now, a leaked internal email from Michael Rocca, the Group Managing Director of Telstra Services, has appeared in our in-box. In it, Mr Rocca details Telstra's ongoing frustrations with the regulator, the ACCC, and the so-called G9.

The email begins, “Telstra has been actively lobbying against pricing proposals put forward by the ACCC regarding the price we can charge rivals access to the Unconditioned Local Loop (ULL), which is the 'last mile' of copper running from the exchange to the customer premises.”

The ACCC announced last week that it would hold an inquiry into whether or not vary the ULL service to ensure it encompasses ‘sub-loop unbundling'.

Mr Rocca goes on to state in the email, “Sub-loop unbundling enables other carriers to interconnect with Telstra's customer access network at any point between the exchange and the customer premises. The G9 are seeking sub-loop unbundling so they can build a fibre to the node network.”

“Should sub-loop unbundling go ahead, it could mean that competitors could simply build their own nodes right next to our existing Telstra nodes or any other physically accessible point of their choosing, and you, as members of Telstra Services, would be required to, at the beck-and-call of these competitors, go out and physically cut the copper wire from Telstra's network and connect it to the competitor's node.”

”Please understand that: you would be required to physically break the network that has served this country for so many years.”

“Telstra has a plan to build a FTTN network and everyone knows that we are the only company capable of doing this. The G9 has a so-called proposal that cannot - I repeat cannot - go ahead without Telstra's network.”

“Should the ACCC endorse sub-loop unbundling, it is the clearest indication yet of how far it will go to stop Telstra - that is, stop you - from building the network that will power Australia into the future.”

Telstra has, in recent months, embarked on something of a charm offensive with such ventures as the “Now we are Talking” website, which, met with mixed results. Telstra recently had to pull a poll on the site that asked who was to blame for the lack of progress in building a high speed broadband network in Australia, after 97.1 per cent of respondents claimed it was Telstra who was to blame.

While this ‘leaked' email might be another method of putting the Telcos' point of view across to consumers, it is likely that it is also reflects the point of view of Telstra management. µ