Paul Fletcher, parliamentary secretary to the minister for communications, talks through the discussion paper on a $100 million assistance program to extend regional mobile coverage. How can it be implemented in a way that ensures competition and offers best value for the taxpayer? More significantly, what are the synergies with the NBN, that is already building mobile towers in regional Australia?
Also this week, Kevin Morgan turns into Senator Stephen Conroy. It’s the closest you’ll get to a CommsDay Pantomine, as we re-enact an element of this week’s public hearing from the Senate’s NBN Select Committee – the bit where the senator tries to argue that the new proposal won’t deliver on the speeds promised by the Prime Minister. Aside from his less than impressive acting debut, Mr Morgan suggests that when it comes to honesty with numbers, the previous government he reckons had early advice on the real cost of a full fttp deployment.
Hopefully an end to 2013 will see an end to bickering about numbers from the past and a focus on the task at hand.
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Small Cells and pCells – can mobile win on speed and cost?
People are deploying pCells in places where the operator plans to directly compete with cable and DSL providers for home services. Perhaps fixed to mobile substitution has begun.
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Australia’s PM – the highest paid leader
David Campbell talks about the Australian Prime Minister’s healthy pay packet. Plus, is New Zealand a mere pawn in China’s quest for global domination?
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Back to uncertainty
US yields were almost entirely driven by the fall in consumer sentiment says NAB’s Tapas Strickland, reaching a pandemic low. There is a fear from some that this could push back tapering and rate rises by the Fed.
