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2 April, 2008
087/2008
Telstra statement on OPEL termination
Telstra Country Wide® Group Managing Director, Mr Geoff Booth, today welcomed the
decision by the new Federal Government to terminate the Broadband Connect
Infrastructure Funding granted to the SingTel Optus/Elders joint venture OPEL.
Mr Booth said it was a commonsense decision as the OPEL plan failed to meet the
fundamental requirements of the funding and would have done nothing to increase the
availability of broadband access in rural and remote Australia.
"The previous Government's decision was made as a result of poor process and delivered
little for regional Australia.
"It’s now time to put this mess behind us and move on. Telstra, the Federal Government
and the industry as a whole need to look forward and come up with a realistic and
achievable holistic solution for getting broadband to all Australians with 21st century
technology."
As a result of the Federal Government's decision Telstra's legal proceedings to access
documents relevant to the previous Government's decision on the Broadband Connect
tender will now come to an end.
Telstra Media Contact:
Jeremy Mitchell
Tel: (02) 8293 2340
Mbl: 0438 205 416
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