Australian IT
8 Apr 2008
THE Tasmanian Government has stumbled in its long-running efforts to increase competition in the island's $450 million broadband market.
The Government is stalemated in efforts to secure backhaul services to the island.
Days before Christmas, the state Government selected state-owned energy company Aurora Energy as partner to commercialise its $30 million fibre-optic backbone. The initiative is aimed at breaking Telstra's broadband monopoly in the state, but the Government awarded the contract to Aurora without first securing backhaul capacity from the mainland.
This would be carried by the Basslink fibre-optic cable, which piggybacks the undersea electricity cable connecting Tasmania and Victoria. The cable was purchased late last year by CitySpring, owned by the Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings.
Four months on, talks between Aurora and CitySpring are still deadlocked.
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