An excellent speech ! All points very well made. Let's hope it gets the publicity it deserves and that the Government gets the message. Only Telstra can build the NBN, it needs to be done, let's do it.

The view of former Australian Labor Prime Minister echo's Phil comments. Clearly, the dithering must stop simply because one cannot micromanage FTTN. ....."August 06, 2008 09:30pm Article from: AAP FORMER Labor prime minister Paul Keating says current Labor boss Kevin Rudd lacks a clear message and is "running at the behest of little press secretaries". continued....http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24139697-29277,00.html

Well a very informative speech again By Dr Burgess. Love the way humour is also contained in all his speeches. What I cannot understand is why the Government after Government and Regulators want work against a National Company of Telstra's stature. For me if the NBN goes to any company other than Telstra the profits from this venture will not remain in Australia. Except for Telstra all other contenders (for the namesake only) are foreign conglomerates. Telstra on the hand should be given preference and not hindered on this venture as the saying is "Known Devil is better than the Unknown God". Telstra is an Australian Company and when we advertise we say buy Australian products. But it is unfortunate that the Government and Regulators does not even come close to keep the money in Australia. What a shame?

Lucky Mendis, the indisputable fact is that no local or global Telco can take on the job. Consequently, governments of both persuasions felt petrified at the though of having only one choice and clearly not mature enough to be able to confidently award the contract to the one and only. That is why they prolonged the agony in the hope that somehow, something will happen. It should be noted that the word 'contract' in this context is, clearly a misnomer. There is no contract involved. all they needed to do is allow the rightful Australian Telecommunication incumbent to proceed with the replacement of the copper network with fibre cable within the confines of its existing foot print. The real bone of contention is to do with the outmoded trade practices act which was enacted in a different era of telecommunications and is thus overdue for an overhaul. Naturally, retail and wholesale prices need to be negotiated on commercial terms with Telstra who have been more than willing, over many years, to close the deal. Work to be undertaken outside the confines of the existing footprint can be deemed a new 'contract' and left to the Government negotiate . In the circumstances, Kevin Rudd should apply The Pareto principle to sort out the impasse.

there's no point building it if the operator's main interest in it is over-the-top profit. If Australia is to realise the benefits of broadband, it needs to be priced decently so that it does not add costs to busniess. And it is not as if giving Telstra the NBN will keep money in Australia, anyway. Telstra will buy from overseas companies for almost every component of the build other than labour.

Frederick, let's correct a few misconceptions. There is no hope of anyone getting away with "over-the-top profit" simply because the rate of return must be within commercial reality otherwise market forces would nullify the project. Also, when we talk about keeping our money in Australia, we refer to commercial profits derived from the NBN venture, which flow to shareholders and in turn generate economic activity within Australia for generations. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Federal Government's belated NBN initiate is underway! (http://business.smh.com.au/business/national-10bplus-network-a-step-closer-20080807-3rqm.html). It's referred to as 'The National Broadband Network' but it remains to be seen how the array of those lining up hope to be able build a truly national network.

Frederik how deceptive that you (or your conspirators) continually try to cause fear by claiming that Telstra are the originally Ali Barber thieves. This lie, to promote greedy self interest, must be exposed and rejected by all Australians. As a leading Australian company Telstra should always be supported especially when its products and services are superior in quality and price to its foreign competitors.