Fibre free diet

So Telstra won’t build a new fibre network if the ACCC forces it to give other telcos access at prices determined by someone other than Telstra. Can you really blame them?

Would you build a new shop if your competitors could demand some of your floor space? Everyone is heartily sick of competition by legislation, particularly lame legislation that failed to split the communications infrastructure from the reseller in the first place.

There are some things that should be owned by the government no matter how much you believe in rampant market forces, and one of those things is basic infrastructure.

The last thing you want when times are bad, or heaven forbid, in times of war, is privately owned infrastructure being used to benefit anyone else.

And that means we the people should own the roads, airports, seaports and phone lines, and any number of privateers can be allowed to resell services on top of these facilities, for a reasonable fee.

So, no blame to Telstra for refusing to build something for its rivals, but much shame on the government for not having the foresight to understand the basics. What do we want? Broadband. When do want it? Last century.