I received a reply from Dr Washer's office (he is our local Federal MP)
about my query to him on when the Telstra upgrade in the Joondalup area
that he promised in the election campaign would occur.
The advice is July 2005 - my reply to his office is include below.
May I suggest that if we collectively don't pressure the Government now
for realistic service level benchmarks many of us will end up being 'up
the proverbial creek without a paddle'.
Feel free to send your own comments to your MP. If you live in Dr
Washer's electorate the email address of his assistant is
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Gloria
I cannot see how Telstra, and others, are not guilty of misleading and
deceptive conduct under the Trades practice Act as they are
collectively advertising a product that they know they cannot deliver
in many circumstances.
By not having very clear and obvious information that this is the case
is misleading and deceptive.
It is time that Telstra was forced to come clean and state publicly how
many households as a percentage in Perth could feasibly be connected to
Broadband if they wanted to. Perhaps Dr Washer should ask. I suspect
that the percentage may in fact be very very low. With the trend to
home businesses, like myself, this is becoming an issue and an
impediment to conducting business.
It would also be interesting to have a suburb by suburb analysis. You
can bet there has been some selective discrimination going on, and that
in fact universal access is a concept that is only being paid lip
service to.
The general level of Telecommunications service in this country is
abysmal when compared to the UK and USA. I have an associate who is
fortunate enough to live in Willeton - an area with cable access. He
tells me that even that service compared with what he has experienced
in the USA is second rate.
Even this local cable access is far superior to what most of us can or
could get under ADSL. Yet Testra has absolutely no plans to extend the
cable network in existing suburban areas. CBD's and new suburbs (where
the developer pays for the installation) are another story.
Are Telstra saying that we, the great unwashed, are destined to live in
a telecommunications time warp into the forseeable future. The reality
is that the universal levels of access benchmarks set for Telstra are
pathetic and we the Australian public are being conned. Once the rest
of Telstra is sold off the chances of most of us getting a better
service is zilch.
The so called service provision guarantees being used to justify the
sale of Telstra will be meaningless once Telstra is privatised. I
recall the reassurances given at the time of the deregulation of the
banking industry, and the privatisation of the Commonwealth Bank. The
increased competition was supposed to lead to better service at a lower
cost - exactly the opposite is true for most Australians.
The government will have very little influence over a privatised
telecommunications industry. it will be about as much influence as
they currently have over the banks - all rhetoric and no substance!
Like with banking the commercial imperative will mean most Australians
will end up paying more, and if you are unfortunate enough to live in a
low profit margin area, like the country or older suburbs, you will be
left with existing levels of services with little prospect of them ever
being improved.
There is a desparate need for:
- Realistic service benchmarks to be set which will allow for home
businesses to compete effectively
(instead of the Mickey Mouse ones we have now) ; and
- For Telstra to be given a timetable to achieve them.
Only then should the privatisation proceed. My fear is that this will
not happen and we the average Australian will be left high and dry yet
again.
Perhaps Dr Washer would like to comment.
mike moore . architect
9306 3917
