Fed: Govt accused of weighing dice against Telstra competitors

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-2000
Fed: Govt accused of weighing dice against Telstra competitors

By Krista Hughes

GUNNEDAH, NSW, Aug 23 AAP - The federal government has been accused of weighing the
dice against Telstra's competitors by gagging public comment on rival plans to provide
telephone services in the bush.

In a letter to companies registered to bid for a $150 million project to provide untimed
local calls in remote regions, prospective carriers were warned against spruiking their
plans in public.

"The Commonwealth intends in the tender documentation to reserve the right to exclude
from further consideration any tenderer who contravenes this condition," assessment panel
chair Chris Cheah wrote.

The government today announced the Victoria/South Australia and New South Wales/Queensland
border regions had been chosen to trial carriers other than Telstra for basic telephone
and data services.

The pilot projects are part of a plan to open services provided under the Universal
Service Obligation (USO) to competition, and will stretch from Tamworth to Caloundra and
Bendigo to Robe.

But new satellite telecommunications company Heartland Communications said the government's
`no comment' condition put newcomers to the market at a disadvantage in bidding for the
USO and untimed call projects.

Heartland chairman and former National Party leader Charles Blunt said the government,
as the majority shareholder of major carrier Telstra, had to be careful how it handled
the tender processes.

"Can I just say that the government remains the majority shareholder in one of the
significant carriers that has also a strong interest in these upcoming tenders," Mr Blunt
told reporters at the company's launch in Gunnedah, in northern NSW.

"We regard this as a major disadvantage, because many people in Australia have no understanding
of what two-way satellite communication is about and if we can't explain it to them, the
market will remain sceptical and cynical."

The company had also sought legal advice on whether the condition would put Heartland,
owned by listed company Maxis Corporation Ltd, in conflict with Australian Stock Exchange
disclosure rules.

"That involves any major plans the company may have for major tenders or contracts
... the USO could be quite fairly described as a significant commercial undertaking,"

Mr Blunt said.

A spokesman for Communications Minister Richard Alston said the no comment condition
was designed to protect the integrity of the tender process and ensure no outside pressures
were brought to bear.

The USO pilots, expected to be finalised by the end of the year, will keep Telstra
as the backstop carrier but allow customers to sign up with competitors.

National Party leader John Anderson said new technologies such as satellite offered
rural and remote areas the chance to get telecommunications services on a par with urban
areas.

The National Farmers Federation (NFF) welcomed the trials as an opportunity for people
living in regional areas to have better access to telecommunications services.

AAP jb/kmh/gmw

KEYWORD: USO NIGHTLEAD

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