Telstra privatisation might hinder rural areas
Telstra privatisation might hinder rural areas
Jan 28, 2004: The possibility of Telstra being privatised has provoked debate about whether it should continue to provide landline services to people who live in rural communities once the sale has been completed.
At the moment, the Universal Service Obligation demands that Telstra must provide everybody in Australia with adequate telephone services, but there are questions marks over whether this should be upheld following privatisation.
It has been reported that the USO costs Telstra about a quarter of a billion dollars each year, although economists say that urban areas by the coast subsidise the remote communities.
Stephen Controy, a Labour spokesman, believes that privatisation will make even bigger problems for people in rural and regional Australia.
"It would allow Telstra to abandon its obligations to invest in our national communications systems, and concentrate on squeezing maximum profits from our most lucrative telecommunications markets."
However, other telecommunication companies see advantages in Telstra not providing landline services to these regions anymore, because it will give them a chance to break into the market with cheaper services.
Powertec is one company ready to step in and offer new services for these communities. It distributes Ericsson's Fixed Cellular Terminal, which is a small box, the same size as a landline phone that takes a sim card, like any cell phone, and connects to a power point a standard landline handset.
Powertec claims that users can make calls through the cellular network, with cheap mobile rates and capped plans, from the comfort of a landline, with clear reception.
Despite these solutions on offer, the argument over the responsibility of Telstra to turn its back on less populate regions is still one that is going to face serious debate, with commercial and ethical concerns at the centre of the battle.
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