In a previous post I had a bit of a combined whinge about MS downloads and bandwidth limits in Australia. Today I read a new article at SMH that made me even more angry.
For those who don’t know, Australia’s broadband/phone network is predominantly owned and controlled by Telstra. In short, this company is largely responsible for the issues. Not only do they charge insane amounts for their shitty service, they’re going to be charging more down the track. The cost of phone line rental is extremely high. Their Internet plans are a joke. The service network is terrible, and just don’t even think about getting support over the phone from someone who know’s what they’re doing.
When I first started looking for a broadband provider back in 2003, I decided to avoid Telstra because their plans didn’t seem to be as competitive as others. Instead, I decided to go with a company that I am actually using now (Internode). The process of signing up looked to be fairly simple, so I filled in the online form and away we went.
About 2 days later I was informed by Internode that they weren’t able to provision a connection on my phone line for some wierd reason. They told me that the issue is with Telstra, because they own the line, and that I should give them a call to find out what the problem is.
Upon calling Telstra I was told that they weren’t able to help me. They said that they had a reason for rejecting the connection request, but they would consider looking into the problem if, and only if, I signed up with them and not Internode.
I was stunned! In no so many words, the lady on the other end of the phone had basically said that if I sign up with Telstra I’d get a connection, but I’d be rejected if I went through Internode. I decided to stick with dial-up rather than give them my cash.
Thankfully things have now changed, and I no longer live in a spot where there are issues on the line. But that at least gives you an idea of what Telstra is like to deal with. From what I’ve heard, these days they’re even worse.
The idea of them winning the tender to sort out the Internet infrastructure in this country just gives me the shivers. I mean, they say it themselves:
Just this week Telstra’s public policy chief, Phil Burgess, admitted the company’s strategy was to become a “premium provider charging premium prices”.
That’s straight from the horses mouth! If that’s not enough evidence, check this out:
Telstra will not want to reduce margins because it has promised shareholders it will increase the company’s overall pre-tax profit margins from 42 per cent to between 46 and 48 per cent by 2010.
Are they thinking about the consumer? Hell no. It’s all about bleeding you dry.
Something needs to be done. I’m voting with my wallet, and telling Telstra to go f**k themselves by signing up with a competitor. You can do the same. Right now I’m looking for ways to completely remove myself from any of Telstra’s services and I know I’ll feel better for doing it.
I think you will too 
December 6, 2007
Fabian just sent me this link, which backs up the link I sent before. Here’s an interesting snippet:
December 7, 2007
In the name of the great god, Competition, various governments slowly sold off the old Telecom so now Australia has the privately owned Telstra. To make the commercial deal worth the effort, the network was sold along with the retail arm of Telecom, so now we have a publically owned company with a monoploy on the telecommunications network in Australia. How could Telstra not manage to make 40%+ profits?
All this comes from the blind application of an economic theory formulated for the USA in a country with a similar landmass, but the population of greater New York (or London if you prefer).
OK, I’ll get off my hobby horse. Good luck finding an independant provider, OJ, you’ll need it.
December 7, 2007
Unfortunately we’re stuck in a country where even the smaller vendors are providing services on top of Telstra’s infrastructure. Some of your cash is going to end up in Telstra’s pocket. You can at least take steps to minimise it, which is what I’m doing
December 8, 2007
Crikey? Does Oz have an equivalent of OFCOM (government regulators for the telecoms industry)? I mean BT are a bit expensive, try a few sneaky tricks now, and hold up the local loop like a bunch of bastards, but they’re usually held in line by OFCOM to some extent.
December 8, 2007
Yeah we do have the equivalent. It’s called the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Telstra currently hates them as they feel they’re just “getting in the way”.
There has been a little more news of late around this whole story. Follow your nose through this post and the two links that come with it.
Hardly surprising really. I was talking to Amy about this yesterday and I was getting more and more wound up at the thought
Personally I feel that there are three parties involved with varying levels of stupidity:
It’s a tough position to be in. I’m not sure what the solution is. But I do know that Rudd’s “education revolution” relies on this next-gen Internet infrastructure. So if he fails to deliver on it, it’ll be two things he’s failed on instead of just one.
I hope that it gets solved though. I think I’m going to have to agree with Possum though..