Media speculation about the future of OPEL, which Senator Conroy called a “dog of a product” while in Opposition, has proved correct.
However readers of this blog will recall many tales about this pup:
The Government had said all along that it would honour any contractual commitments entered into by the previous government in relation to OPEL. In essence, OPEL has been cancelled because it was unable to meet its commitments under the terms of its contract.
In the end, OPEL’s plans turned out to be a dog’s breakfast.
First, there were issues with the technology choice and its ability to deliver. The CEO of a company called Buzz, which operated a failed WiMAX network (www.commsday.com) called the technology a “disaster” that “failed miserably”.
Second, OPEL had difficulty securing appropriate radio spectrum over which to run its wireless network. Public spectrum had to be shared, and was unsuitable for long-distance transmissions. Then there was a frantic search for alternatives, including a conditional deal with AUSTAR.
All this is just interesting history now, but what can we learn from it?
A critical lesson has to be around the design, purpose and execution of Government programs. Broadband Connect, the program under which OPEL was funded, was meant to deliver broadband services to people in rural areas that are currently “underserved”.
Somewhere along the way the program changed to focus on providing competitive broadband in areas where a service already existed. This means that underserved communities continued to miss out, in preference to Government directly subsidising competition to existing commercial services. That is a form of market distortion called “State Aid”, which is carefully monitored and controlled in the European Union (ec.europa.eu).
The funding for the program also shot up from $600 million to $958 million, but only one bidder was given the opportunity to say what it would do with this additional money.
As I understand it, the bid assessment process was carried out by officials from the former Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, who had primary responsibility for weighting up complex technical, commercial and engineering detail. A huge task for anybody.
Clearly the lessons learned will be useful for the future – expertise, openness and transparency – shedding light on a process can, in the end, help take out the heat.