Australia's National Broadband Network in debate over separation

[tig]

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/81658,struggles-continue-over-nbn-separation.aspx

“Structural separation isn't a necessity, but is ideal if you want to be sure there is equal opportunity for all players,” said IDC analyst David Cannon.

“Scepticism around the validity and value of separation are understandable, but at the end of the day it forces the incumbent to have a more considerate view of the wholesale market.”

However, Telstra and those who share its interest are spending the time leading up to the submission deadline hyping the drawbacks of heavy regulation.

This week, Telstra touted the opinions of two overseas experts speaking at an ACCC conference. The speakers stressed that regulators should play less of a role and allow the market to operate freely.

"Regulation emerges from what would otherwise be a free market system because stakeholders with political power are able to entice politicians into imposing regulations that shift wealth from the less powerful to the more powerful,” said Dr Mark Jamison of the Public Utilities Research Centre in Florida at the ACCC conference.

Hmmm, I will be keeping an eye on this debate. It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be.

[Trestor]

Telstra is no more in favor of free market deregulation than the RIAA is in favor of P2P file sharing; it's always jockeyed for legislation that would give it preferential treatment over its competitors. Telstra doesn't want structural separation because it has owned most of the telecommunications infrastructure up to now. They want to retain that control, because everyone will have to dance to their tune, as is currently the case, where ISP resellers must charge higher monthly rates if they use Telstra's over-priced infrastructure.

Telstra is the most expensive ISP in Australia, charging for BOTH uploads and downloads. This would make sharing on winmx or torrent a losing proposition because everyone who might upload from you would add to your quota.