We have dropped in rank in levels of broadband penetration in each of the past five years, and are now ranked 21st in the OECD, lower than Spain and Italy.
That's from an article in The Age by Graeme Philipson.
Meanwhile from News Ltd:
Telstra's annual report shows that chief executive Ziggy Switkowski has received... total remuneration of $2.727 million during the past financial year. That total included deferred remuneration of $660,854 and came with a base salary of $1.34 million.... it also shows that six other senior executives received total remunerations above $1 million, while two received over $900,000.
According to the Department of Communications, Information Technology and The Arts website,
Telstra is currently around 51.05 per cent owned by the Commonwealth and around 48.95 per cent by private shareholders.
So we have Australia's largest telco, still owned 51% by the people, and yet it is failing to provide a basic service. Even the Italians are getting a better service! And if you've ever spent much time in Italy, that should worry you. I remember when Bill Gates met with Frank Blount in early 1998. Frank was the CEO of Telstra at the time. Bill was very impressed with the broadband infrastrucutre Australia had at the time, he believed it to be one of the best in the world. What happened? Where did it all go wrong? I remember spending some time with one of the Group Managing Directors of Telstra not long afterwards (actually we were drinking somewhere in New Orleans, but that's another story) and I asked "When are you guys going to make your broadband pricing reasonable to encourage adoption?" His reply stunned me. "When we are forced to."
Hey I believe in lasse-faire capitalism. I read Ayn Rand. I worked for Microsoft for six years! And when you are a privately owned corporation, who has built marketshare through the quality of your product and aggressive dedication to your business, then good luck to you. Live it up. You deserve it and your shareholders have a right to demand it of you. However, when you have built your business through a government regulated monopoly for 100 years, it changes the paradigm.
Australia's pathetic broadband position with respect to other OECD countries should be clear evidence that Telstra cannot remain a bastard child. Surely even Mark Latham must understand that. This experiment has failed. Either bring it back into 100% ownership and run it like Korea Telecom or cut it loose. Please. Pick one. I don't care anymore which one, just pick one.
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