Paul Budde: Telecom On The Right Track

Over the last few weeks I have found myself on what is, for me, an unusual side of the telecoms fence.

I have been trying to defend Telecom’s positive reaction to the government’s reform policies and Teresa’s position within the company. While the odds are still running against her, I am becoming more and more confident that she will survive. And, as I have said, this would be in the best interests of both Telecom and New Zealand.

When I addressed the TUANZ conference in Wellington last month I said that we should give her at least a few months to prove that she is genuine in her commitment to the reforms, and it was with great pleasure that I saw her letter to the wholesalers, in which she invited them to participate in two industry working groups, to work through the reform issues.

This is a very commendable approach – and pretty unique in the world of incumbents. In Australia, Telstra’s position on industry cooperation continues to be ‘over my dead body’.

True, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. However from now on the industry will be part of the solution and they will have a voice in these working groups.

It has been my experience that, as soon as we start talking to each other on an equal footing, solutions are found and progress is made.

It seems that BT’s example of operational separation is going to be a very important benchmark for Telecom, and I completely agree that this should be used for that purpose. Given the positivity that has been generated by the new directions, we could perhaps even better the British model. We are truly reaching ‘can-do’ territory here.

In Australia, Telecom New Zealand has made a number of comments about the operational separation of Telstra that are in line with my thoughts on the issue. And I assume that the vision Telecom has been promoting in Australia will now also be applied to its own situation.

It will be interesting to see whether, after all of this, Telstra will continue to support a common telecoms market between these two countries. It looks as though the tables are turning and, if they are, then the New Zealand situation could also be very beneficial to Australia.

To those who have a genuine interest in advancing the telecoms reforms in New Zealand I would say – back off from the negative messages that some financial and politically-motivated people in New Zealand are successfully introducing – unhelpful messages about reforms, the ability of Telecom to deliver on these, and Teresa’s position in the whole picture.

I would like to ask the media instead to investigate those people who are the source of these rumours. What are their (hidden) agendas, and why are they undermining the current affirmative processes?

PAUL BUDDE Communication Pty Ltd,
http://www.budde.com.au
BuddeComm operates the largest, continually updated, telecommunications research service on the Net

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