Telstra, nbn^TM deny Brisbane build battle

Telstra has moved to bury rumours that it's in a battle with nbn^TM over the residents of South Brisbane.

The carrier says that contrary to reports that nbn^TM is overbuilding the fibre Telstra laid in the area, the two have put discussions about the area on hold until next year.

Telstra had to relocate the South Brisbane exchange in 2011, to make room for a new children's hospital, and decided it would install fibre-to-the-home as part of the project.

Recently, however, photographs of National Broadband Network (NBN) fibre being laid in the area drew speculation that Telstra's fibre was being overbuilt. The Delimiter site called it a “secret” overbuild while carrying an image of a two-metre diameter cable drum.

The incumbent has now told industry subscriber-only newsletter Communications Day there's no overbuild. With negotiators hard at work getting the final definitive agreements written for the rest of the rollout, Telstra said, it and nbn^TM have postponed parley about South Brisbane until 2016.

Rather, the NBN build in the area is fibre to provide backhaul from greenfields development in the area to an nbn^TM point of interconnect.

+Comment: The negotiations over South Brisbane will be sensitive, to say the least.

nbn^TM needs to get access to the fibre at a profitable price, and there are clear disincentives for Telstra to provide that.

Once the fibre is integrated into the NBN, Telstra's competitors – who have complained in the past that the commercial terms the incumbent offers on the fibre are unattractive – will have access to those customers on an e qual basis to Telstra.

So having paid the construction price of the network, Telstra won't want to ask its shareholders to okay a deal that devalues a long-lived asset by creating a level playing field.

If the Comms Day report is accurate, it's no surprise the two parties decided to leave something so contentious to one side so they can concentrate on bigger deals. ®