Telstra Industry updates

Telstra pushes for broadband tender

July 8, 2008 - 6:45PM

Advertisement:
Telstra Corporation Ltd says it is ready to build a national high-speed broadband service if it wins the federal government's tender for the proposed network.

The federal government has promised to provide as much as $4.7 billion to help build the network, which analysts estimate could cost as much as $12 billion.

Telstra group managing director of public policy and communications Phil Burgess told a business audience in Sydney that Telstra was the best prepared telecommunications operator to build the network.

He said to build a fibre network that connects 98 per cent of Australians to 12 megabits-a-second broadband would require deploying 80,000 fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) boxes across the country.

Broadband speeds at present usually run to no more than 1.5 megabits a second in Australia.

"FTTN boxes are about the size of two moderate-sized refrigerators," Dr Burgess said.

"80,000 of those have to be manufactured either in the US or the EU - that's where you make them.

"They have to be transported to Australia ... they have to be put on trains and hauled out to 80,000 sites around this country.

"Who has the ability to do this? How many of these companies who are bidding for this have already reserved assembly lines to produce the 80,000 boxes? We have."

Telstra's competitor in the tender is a consortium led by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd-owned Optus called Terria.

The federal government recently extended the original bid deadline from June 25 by at least 12 weeks to give the bidders time to examine Telstra's existing infrastructure.

Dr Burgess again hit out at the competition watchdog and its chairman Graeme Samuels, saying that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) policies failed to promote investment in the telecommunications industry.

"In Australia for the last three and half years of Graeme Samuels' reign at the ACCC, we've had negative investment growth in telecommunications if you take Telstra out of the mix," he said.

Dr Burgess said the ACCC had failed to encourage investment and increase competition in the industry.

"A regulator has three purposes in a market economy - to protect the public health and safety and to advance consumer choice, to promote investment in an industry and to have a healthy and competitive industry."

"The ACCC fails on all three counts."

Asked how the ACCC was preventing investment in the industry, Dr Burgess said the ACCC's pricing policies have encourage other competitors not to build and instead to "ride off" Telstra's network.

"They've depressed investment by Optus and other providers and that's not a good thing for the country."

An ACCC spokesperson declined to comment on Dr Burgess' remarks.

© 2008 AAP

30 June 2008 - Telstra secures iPhone 3G™ on our world leading Next G™ network

Telstra and Apple® have signed an agreement to bring iPhone 3G™ to Australia from 11 July on Telstra's high-speed Next G™ network - Australia's largest and fastest 3G network.
David Moffatt, Group Managing Director, Consumer Marketing and Channels, and Holly Kramer, Group Managing Director, Telstra Product Management today announced the agreement with Apple® , adding to the suite of products and services already available on the world-leading Next G ™ network.
"We are delighted that we can now make the next generation iPhone 3G™ available on Telstra's Next G™ network With iPhone 3G™ on the country's largest and fastest 3G network, providing coverage to 99 percent of the population, more Australians will enjoy the iPhone 3G™ experience in even more places," said David.
Apple® describes the iPhone 3G™ as combining three products in one - a revolutionary phone, widescreen iPod™, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser.
Holly said, "This is great news for thousands of Telstra customers, including many in regional and rural Australia, that have inundated us in recent weeks asking if we'll be offering the iPhone 3G™ on the Next G network and we will continue to add exciting new handsets to the Next G™ range ."
"Telstra's partnership with Apple® and other leading device manufacturers demonstrates our on-going commitment to giving customers world class mobile phones and a superior experience.
"David and I would like to thank the strong and dedicated team, from across all business units, working to have all the elements ready for launch, they have been doing a great job and are on track to deliver the iPhone 3G on the Next G network on July 11 for our customers," said Holly.
The Apple® iPhone 3G™ will be available to customers from 11 July . Customers are able to register their interest by contacting us

2007 Global Stats

29 April 2008 - Next G™ network revolutionising healthcare

At the launch of the BreastScreen Tasmania Virtual Care Connectivity Project in Smithton, Tasmania, Telstra Country Wide® Executive Director for Tasmania and Victoria, Gant Wiltshire joined Tasmanian Health and Human Services Minister, Lara Giddings and represtatives from BreastScreen Tasmania, Women's Health and Primary Health from the Circular Head and members of the community to talk about the real improvement the initiative is already making across the state.
The new telehealth initiative powered by Telstra's Next G™ network is revolutionising the way screening mammograms are processed for women living in rural and regional Tasmania. Significant advancements in healthcare often come from simple solutions, and this one could not be more straightforward.
"The beauty of this application is its simplicity," said Grant.
"A combination of wireless broadband and digital mammography equipment means that images previously couriered in hard form can be emailed to the radiology reading facility in Hobart and diagnosed in minutes. And it's all powered by Telstra's Next G™ mobile network."
Lara Giddings, Minister for Health and Human Services, said that the initiative had reduced the time taken for individual mammogram files to be transferred from the mobile screening unit to the Hobart reading facility from as much as five days, to just four minutes.
"Until now, lack of communications has meant time consuming manual processes for delivering client files and mammograms to and from the Mobile Unit," said Lara.
"Files and appointment schedules have been packed in suitcases and delivered by courier to the Mobile Unit wherever it has been located around Tasmania - a process taking up to five days depending on the location.
"Returning the files and screening mammograms to Hobart for reading and archiving has been similarly inefficient.
"In the past, the Mobile Unit has been unable to even connect to a telephone line.
"This, coupled with the many and varied locations the Unit visits, and the challenge of the size and complexity of the x-ray images - about 10 megabytes per single x-ray - has required creative solutions."
BreastScreen Tasmania is one of the increasing number of organisations using the Next G™ network to increase efficiencies and drive improved productivity.

Latest Media release

View