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  From: Mark Newton <newton@atdot.dotat.org>
  To  : Andrew Reid <andrew.reid@plug.cx>
  Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 14:38:41 +0930

Re: CABLE net access in SA

On Fri, May 11, 2001 at 01:57:24PM +0930, Andrew Reid wrote:

 > If you were talking ADSL, I think the answer would also be no. xDSL has
 > been around for a while overseas, and Telstra just decided it would be
 > the best way to get the last remaining use out of their copper network.
 
Not quite.  Telstra have been dragged kicking and screaming into ADSL,
very much against their will.  If there was a way for them to terminate
its rollout and prohibit its use in Australia, believe me, they'd be 
trying it.

Remember, 1.5 Mbps ADSL for a couple of hundred bucks per month eats
directly into their DDS, Frame Relay and Megalink revenues, where you get
2 Mbps for several thousand dollars for month.  It blows ISDN OnRamp 2,
where you pay $350 or so per month for 64k, totally out of the water.

The only reason Telstra is doing ADSL is because the ACCC declared the
local loop.  What does that mean?  It means Telstra's competitors have a 
legal right to use Telstra's raw copper.

So Telstra has been placed in a quandry:  Their retail prices for data
transmission are stratospheric -- among the highest in the world.  But
their competitors have the legal right to place ADSL equipment in the
TEBA rooms of Telstra exchange buildings, and offer comparable data rates
at 10% of Telstra's prices.  Which is exactly what companies like XYZed
have gone and done, in selected areas.

The only "out" for them is to offer ADSL too.  

Believe me, it has nothing to do with extracting "the last remaining
use out of their copper network" -- Their copper network is immensely 
valuable, as long as they're the only company who is allowed to use it.
But they're not (although the prices they've set for third-party access
are ridiculous, presumably to discourage competitors from installing
their own DSLAMs -- Expect more ACCC action on this in the intermediate
future, and wonder why you can retail the copper for your phone line at
home for $15 per month, but Telstra's competitors pay about $60 per
month to get the same piece of copper on a wholesale basis).

   - mark

--------------------------------------------------------------------
I tried an internal modem,                    newton@atdot.dotat.org
     but it hurt when I walked.                          Mark Newton
----- Voice: +61-4-1620-2223 ------------- Fax: +61-8-82231777 -----

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