This is good news, although I don't think anyone's going to see any change for a year or two. Government is so slow at moving with these things (as most burocratic processes are).

I didn't expect any other response from Telecom, they want to stand up for themselves, not lie down and say, fair cop gov. It's interesting how they go on about how rural infrastructure will suffer though. I wonder what percentage of the population live in rural areas.

Also, I'd like to know how much it'll be to put equipment at an exchange. Will it be cheap enough for any small ISP to do so? Or just the big players? I hope that it's cheap enough so we can put DSLAMs at the exchange and provide backhaul for access points etc.

It sounds like the govt will provide funding for other broadband projects, so it may be a time to get the free wifi project off the ground.

This is also good news for phone pricing, no longer will you have to have a Telecom phone line.