Telstra establishes wholesale agreement with Australia NBN

Telstra (ASX: TLS.AX) has ironed out a commercial agreement to sell services via the Australian government's National Broadband Network (NBN).

The incumbent service provider is the last large service provider to establish a 12-month wholesale broadband agreement (WBA).

While a Telstra spokesperson told Computerworld Australia that they signed a WBA, they would not say if the negotiations, which had been going on for a number of months, were successful.

Optus, the second largest Australian telco, also signed a wholesale agreement with the NBN following rumors that the country's telecom regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), might reject its plan. Even though the telco signed the agreement, Optus said it wants the NBN to adopt more regulatory oversight and service assurance levels.

Besides Optus, Primus, iiNet and TPG have signed agreements with NBN Co.

David Thodey, CEO of Telstra, said that it was making progress to get its wholesale arrangement with the NBN in place and it has given the ACCC its revised Structural Separation Undertaking (SSU) plan. In January the incumbent provider submitted its SSU plan again after a number of competitive providers concerns thought did not adequately address their concerns to give them fair access to their wireline network during the ten-year transition to the National Broadband Network (NBN).

"We're working constructively with the ACCC and we're making progress and we're hoping we can bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion in the near future but we've just got to work through all the details and get this thing right," Thodey said.

For more:
- Computerworld Australia has this article

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