On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 05:33:21 +0000, Core2Duo wrote:

> http://business.smh.com.au/slap-for-...-a-relief-for-
farmers/20080118-1msh.html
>
> Slap for Telstra is a relief for farmers Matt O'Sullivan
> January 19, 2008
>
> TELSTRA is heading for its first collision with Kevin Rudd's Government
> after a last-minute order from the Communications Minister blocked its
> planned switch-off of its regional mobile network.
>
> In the first test of the relationship in the lead-up to negotiations
> over an $8 billion national broadband network, the minister, Stephen
> Conroy, yesterday postponed the closure of the CDMA network for at least
> three months.

Um, what was that you were saying Michael and "Alan"??? Snigger.

> The decision is a major slap in the face for Telstra,
> which wants to shift its CDMA customers to its $1 billion-plus NextG
> network.

It's just the first of many slaps from the new government. Trueculo and
his mates will soon learn that this is actually Australia - not the US
after all. They'll be gone soon.

> Telstra had been scheduled to close the CDMA network on January 28 but
> will now have to report to the minister within two weeks detailing
> remedies to the problems he has identified. The earliest the minister
> will allow it to be closed is April 28.

And that's just on principle. If they bother to make a proper decision on
it, they may prevent it indefinitely. They probably won't though, because
it would be crazy to have three different mobile technologies in Aus.
Once they've got rid of Trueculo, they'll probably allow them to close it.

> Senator Conroy said the key factor was concern about the coverage of
> NextG mobile phone handsets. "In some cases, customers have purchased,
> or are purchasing, NextG handsets and equipment that do not provide
> equivalent coverage," he said.
>
> A report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority found
> that six NextG handsets - which it did not identify -appeared to provide
> less coverage than CDMA phones.
>
> A separate Communications Department report revealed some customers had
> not received appropriate advice.
>
> After a poisonous relationship with the Howard Government, Telstra opted
> for a rare display of diplomacy yesterday. The company's outspoken
> regulatory chief, Phil Burgess, said the decision provided clear
> direction about how to ensure the transition to NextG was completed.
>
> However, the decision appears certain to leave the Government and
> Telstra at odds before they go into the highly charged talks over a
> national broadband network, possibly starting next month. Telstra has
> rejected forming a joint venture, which has been a key plank of the
> Government's plans to pour $4.7 billion of taxpayers' funds into the
> project.
>
> Asked whether the decision set up a confrontation, Senator Conroy told
> the Herald that he was treating the CDMA issue as separate from others
> and he hoped Telstra did the same.
>
> The minister also said he would announce details of plans for the $8
> billion high-speed broadband network within the next few weeks.
>
> The National Farmers Federation said the delayed CDMA shutdown was a
> relief. A survey by the group last month found "significant and
> substantive concerns" among farmers with the CDMA network.
>
> "It's sensible to extend the shutdown deadline by a few months," the
> federation's president, David Crombie, said. "The critical issue has
> been timing."
>
> Telstra will not say how many customers are still using the regional
> network, but analysts estimated as many as 500,000 at the end of
> December. In November, Telstra said it had "several hundred thousand
> customers".
>
> The Consumer Telecommunications Network, a customer lobby group, said
> there had been an increase in calls in recent weeks from rural customers
> concerned about the switch-off.