Telstra, Australia lay groundwork for proposed broadband plan

Telstra and the Australian government appear to be closer to defining what the incumbent phone company's role will be in the proposed Next Generation Broadband Network (NBN).   

Right now, Telstra and the government continue to discuss how the incumbent carrier could spin off its wireline network facilities and provide them to the government for the $37 billion NBN initiative as well as how much Telstra's wireline network assets are worth. However, Telstra said that it has not reached a final agreement to contribute its network assets into the government's NBN initiative.  

Nonetheless, Australia's Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the talks with Telstra were productive. "While there are many complex issues still to be resolved before any final agreement is reached, I remain optimistic that both parties can find a mutually acceptable outcome," he said in a statement.

And in another sign of cooperation, Telstra launched a separate 1,500 residential customer Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) trial in Point Cook, Victoria. This trial will upgrade the areas' copper network access to FTTP and Telstra invited the NBN Co to be an observer on the project. NBN Co could incorporate the knowledge it gains from observing the FTTP project into its planned NBN project.

For more:
- read the Reuters article here
- see the Point Cook trial release here

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