The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, has called on Malcolm Turnbull to stop hiding from the Australian people and release the Coalition’s broadband plan.
In a recent interview with the AFR, Turnbull mentioned that the Coalition has got its broadband policies in place.
“If that is the case, what is the hold-up? Instead of accusing Australian IT journalists of being NBN-zealots, he should reveal his plan in detail,” Conroy said.
Conroy claimed Turnbull has ignored the fact that British Telecom is a vertically-integrated incumbent by nominating it as the model for Coalition policy.
“Is his plan to get Telstra to build an FTTN network and give Telstra back its monopoly or is he planning to have NBN Co buy back Telstra’s ageing copper network, with its estimated $1 billion annual maintenance bill and establish a new government monopoly called Network Co?
“Does his plan still rely on the use of HFC networks? How will he ensure these networks are upgraded to be open access, are connected to apartment blocks, and can provide business grade services?” he said.
Conroy also questioned if the Coalition is due to finish its FTTN network in 2020, as predicted by Goldman Sachs.
“It is time Turnbull came clean and released the Coalition’s broadband plans for public scrutiny,” he added.
