4 ms·

I was in Australia a few years ago and was flabbergasted that many ISPs were still operating on a complicated set of caps and on-peak / off-peak rules. I blame

I was in Australia a few years ago and was flabbergasted that many ISPs were still operating on a complicated set of caps and on-peak / off-peak rules. I blamed the de-facto monopoly created when the copper got privatized and all sold to a single company, Telstra.

Khaine 11y ago
Telstra is the privatisation of the old government postmaster general (well after the split from mail post). The government department owned the copper, and telstra retained it as part of the privatisation. As part of this agreement Telstra had to provide equal access to its network, and had to charge the same price for all users, so that the cost of calls was the same for people in regional areas (even though maintenance cost more). Most of the issues relating to Austrlia's internet relate to the cost of overseas transit of information. There are only a few cables between Australia and the rest of the world, and that is the large driver of cost or at least it was in the early 00s
- Wingman4l7 11y ago
  Yeah, Telstra was forced to lease copper to any ISP who wanted to use it -- but I strongly suspect anti-competitive business practices on that aspect (delaying hookups to non-Telstra customers, etc.)
- chris_wot 11y ago
  Oh, the irony! Malcolm Turnbull paid Telstra for the copper networks so that the government could own them again. He did this so that nobody else could get fibre to the home. I feel a bit sorry for him. He was forced into this by Tony "Shirt-front" Abbott, who knew nothing about technology (or how to run a country, for that matter). Now he's stuck with it - a millstone around our new Prime Minister's neck. I guess the intense destabilization and white-anting now going on in the LNP will distract from this.
  - wycx 11y ago
    Is there any evidence at all that he was forced into this? Are there anecdotes of Malcolm arguing for an all-fibre NBN in the party room, only to be smacked down and forced into MTM?
    - chris_wot 11y ago
      There aren't. I concede that I could be projecting what I want reality to be, in this case.

Khaine 11y ago

Telstra is the privatisation of the old government postmaster general (well after the split from mail post). The government department owned the copper, and telstra retained it as part of the privatisation. As part of this agreement Telstra had to provide equal access to its network, and had to charge the same price for all users, so that the cost of calls was the same for people in regional areas (even though maintenance cost more). Most of the issues relating to Austrlia's internet relate to the cost of overseas transit of information. There are only a few cables between Australia and the rest of the world, and that is the large driver of cost or at least it was in the early 00s

Wingman4l7 11y ago
Yeah, Telstra was forced to lease copper to any ISP who wanted to use it -- but I strongly suspect anti-competitive business practices on that aspect (delaying hookups to non-Telstra customers, etc.)
chris_wot 11y ago
Oh, the irony! Malcolm Turnbull paid Telstra for the copper networks so that the government could own them again. He did this so that nobody else could get fibre to the home. I feel a bit sorry for him. He was forced into this by Tony "Shirt-front" Abbott, who knew nothing about technology (or how to run a country, for that matter). Now he's stuck with it - a millstone around our new Prime Minister's neck. I guess the intense destabilization and white-anting now going on in the LNP will distract from this.
- wycx 11y ago
  Is there any evidence at all that he was forced into this? Are there anecdotes of Malcolm arguing for an all-fibre NBN in the party room, only to be smacked down and forced into MTM?
  - chris_wot 11y ago
    There aren't. I concede that I could be projecting what I want reality to be, in this case.