Dec 12, 2022
“NBN Co needs to be a monopoly wholesale provider for it to be economically viable”. This was the view espoused by Dr Ziggy Switkowski after being appointed chairman of NBN Co by the Coalition in 2013 to implement its ‘Faster, Affordable, Sooner” version of the NBN....
Dec 4, 2022
The debate over the value of NBN Co is back in the headlines. This was triggered by NBN Co’s offer in its latest Special Access Undertaking variation to cap its ability to recover losses it has made on its investment in building and operating the network. These losses...
Nov 7, 2022
The Productivity Commission is inquiring into Australia’s Data and Digitial Dividend. I have made a submission on ‘Investing in Regional Digital Infrastructure’ and below are my introductory remarks to the commission’s public hearing held on 7 November 2022. The...
Oct 6, 2022
The ‘bush telegraph’ is the colloquial term for how information is informally transmitted around the rural and outback regions of Australia. It is also an appropriate description of how Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure has not kept up to date with the...
May 30, 2022
This post was first published in the Australian Financial Review on 30 May 2020. Immediately after the election had been put behind us the ACCC released NBN Co’s proposed new Special Access Undertaking which, if accepted, would govern the prices of fixed...
Jul 30, 2021
This post was featured in Michael West Media (michaelwest.com.au) on 31 July 2021. Is the ACCC helping the Government get the best price for the sale of NBNCo? The competition regulators are doing consumers no favours hindering investment in new telco infrastructure....
Oct 28, 2020
The Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher, has issued a special Statement of Expectations (SoE) to the ACCC regarding its telecommunications-related functions on 9 October 2020. This new SOE apparently sits alongside the generic SoE...
Oct 15, 2020
I recently was invited to present to the Australian Telecommunications Associations (TelSoc) and chose to present on what has been happening on the broadband scene in the United Kingdom over recent years. Of particular interest to me is how the UK market is...