In a bombshell decision, the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has announced that none of the five bids for the Lucky Country's much-vaunted national broadband network (NBN) are up to snuff and, as a result, the government is to take matters into its own hands by launching its own company and building the network itself, write Tony Poulos and Martyn Warwick.
So, the Federal Government, in some sort of an accommodation with the private sector, will invest "up to" A$43 billion over eight years to deploy a "super-fast national broadband network", in the ''single biggest infrastructure decision in Australia's history''.
The news is a major slap in the face for Australia's incumbent carrier, Telstra. The operator had very effectively included itself out of the selection process by deliberately submitting a non-compliant tender but it was always expected (especially by those strolling the corridors of power at the telco) that, in the end, (and after the departure of current CEO, Sol Trujillo) the government would return cap in hand to Telstra and come to an agreement whereby the incumbent would be called upon to do the lion's share of the work.
But Telstra's bluff has been well and truly called. In an announcement, statesman Kevin Rudd, apparently having got over his recent air rage incident during which he reduced members of a cabin crew to tears because his flight didn't have the "right" sandwiches on board, says it is time ''to bite the bullet'' (rather than a sarnie) after what he describes as "years of neglect of the telecommunications sector".
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