Rebirthed G9 submits $5M national broadband bond

Derived from Terra Australis, the newly-named group continues to operate with existing G9 members including AAPT, iiNet, Internode, Optus, Macquarie Telecom, Primus, SOUL and TransACT.

The group was originally made up of nine telco players but was reduced to eight when PowerTel was acquired by fellow member AAPT.

Chairman of the group, Michael Egan, likened the new name to the dog breed, Terrier, which are well-known for their fearlessness.

“We like the fact that it’s phonetically the same as terrier which hints at the energy and tenacity which will be needed to win the best communication outcome," Egan said.

Egan said despite the name change, the group’s mission would remain in stride with the G9’s original goals; “to provide an independent and competitive communication network for the nation."

Egan also confirmed that Terria would lodge its $5 million bond with the Government so it would be eligible to bid for the government funded $4.7 billion national broadband network tender.

The group’s intention to lodge its $5 million bond follows an announcement by Communication Minister Stephen Conroy that the original deadline for network tenders has been extended.

Egan welcomed news of the deadline extension and highlighted the importance of having access to the network infrastructure information needed to prepare a robust tender proposal.

“All we ever wanted from this process was for Telstra to submit network information so each bidder has a fair chance to make their proposal,” he said.

“It’s not quite as much time as we wanted but nevertheless it’s a very good outcome for us and the other bidders involved. We would have liked an extra five months but we’ll take what we can get at this time.”

Egan also confirmed that Optus would be submitting a bid separate to Terrier’s tender proposal.

“If Terrier was to pull out of its bid for whatever reason, which is not something we intend to do, it’s important that Optus protects their position in the market,” he said.