Telstra rebuffs R&D criticism

“Dr Skellern fundamentally misunderstands Telstra’s business and the nature of the industry for which his institution carries out R&D,” Bradlow told iTnews.

“Telstra is a service provider; it is not a technology research company.

“Basically, Telstra uses world-leading technologies to build networks and platforms that are not only innovative in themselves, but importantly also enable researchers in a wide array of fields to undertake research and drive ground-breaking solutions.”

Bradlow said that that it was wrong to blame companies like Telstra for the state of innovation in Australia.

“Dr Skellern needs to consider what are the root causes of any deficiency in innovation in this country, rather than take uninformed potshots at companies. Telstra invests billions of dollars in the development and construction of underlying platforms of innovation.

“Impediments to innovation in Australia primarily relate to the absence of a climate to encourage investment and risk-taking, and long-standing difficulties in commercialising R&D.

Bradlow said that Telstra was committed to continuing to work with leading technology companies in providing state-of-the-art solutions such as the Next G network, Next IP network, and 'potentially, the National Broadband Network'