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NBN rivals should be blocked: Labor

'Cherry picking' could undermine NBN Co's ability to provide affordable high-speed broadband

The company building the $36 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) should be protected from competition, Labor senators say.

Under the government's proposal, NBN Co's rivals would be banned from laying out their own high-speed cables first.

A Labor-chaired Senate inquiry into key broadband bills agreed, saying other companies needed to be prevented from targeting lucrative markets and leaving NBN Co with high-cost, low-revenue customers.

"If this cherry picking of the market were to occur, this would undermine NBN Co's ability to meet its objective of providing affordable and uniform access to high-speed broadband, to all metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas," the committee said.

But in a dissenting report, Liberal senators on the committee said the rules would be anti-competitive.

"NBN Co already has a significant advantage as a result of its massive taxpayer equity contribution," they said.

"Therefore, it's understandable that private competitors argue they should retain a right to access the relevant markets through building their own infrastructure."

The coalition senators are also backing Telstra's call for NBN Co to be banned from controlling an internet service retailer.

Liberal senator, Mary Jo Fisher, said Labor's proposed broadband legislation needed to be amended so NBN Co could only be a wholesaler.

"Coalition senators are concerned that these latest bills continue to undermine the government's repeated reassurances that NBN Co will provide wholesale-only services, and will not compete in any way whatsoever with retail service providers," she said.

Under the government's bills, NBN Co would also be allowed to manage water and sewerage authorities.

But, Senator Fisher said, this would cut out other retailers from bidding to provide those services.

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More about: Cherry, etwork, Telstra

Comments

1

Andrew

Mon 21/03/2011 - 18:39

Yet another nonsense on top of the primary one. And the full cost of both will be paid by taxpayers. Hopefully competitors will not get into the same idea of digging across the continent - where wireless today is reaching half of the NBN future bandwidth.

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