Saturday, October 13, 2012

Thousands to be forced into 'costly' NBN switch | Townsville Bulletin News

Thousands to be forced into 'costly' NBN switch | Townsville Bulletin News: "THOUSANDS of Townsville residents in suburbs trialling the national broadband network will be forced to pay higher internet and phone bills when the old copper network is unexpectedly switched off in 18 months.

All fixed phone lines and internet services connecting 2900 properties in Aitkenvale and Mundingburra will be shut off and residents will be forced to switch to the NBN.

Telstra customers paying as little as $29.95 a month would be forced to take up an NBN plan for a minimum of $80. It comes despite a slow take-up rate, with about 73 per cent of residents in the trial area opting not to connect to NBN services."

'via Blog this'

1 comment:

  1. The report is untrue.

    It effectively accuses Telstra of violating their agreement with the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency (TUSMA) for which they were paid $230 million to provide.

    http://www.tusma.gov.au/registers

    Telstra has a contractual obligation to supply the standard telephone service (STS) so that voice services are reasonably accessible to all people in Australia on an equitable basis. This includes Telstra being the retail provider of last resort for customers who wish to take only a voice STS over the NBN. Telstra receives funding to operate and maintain its existing copper network to provide STS in areas where the NBN fibre network will not be deployed.

    In fact Telstra says on their FAQ that you get to keep your phone-only plan at the same price.

    http://www.telstra.com.au/internet/national-broadband-network/faqs/

    Can I get a voice only plan on the NBN?
    In some areas we’ll be continuing to provide voice services over our existing network for the time being. In other areas we’ll be offering voice services on the NBN, called Digital Voice on the NBN. We’ll let you know which service you can get when you place your order. Where we offer Digital Voice on the NBN, you can take up HomeLine Ultimate, Reach, Plus or Budget at the same rates as the plans provided over Telstra’s network.

    ReplyDelete