Wired Brown Land? Telstra's Battle for Broadband

Description

Describes the commercial and political battle between Telstra and everyone else to control Australia's broadband infrastructure, a struggle that escalates as the Government prepares to spend $43 billion on a new broadband network. Listen to Paul Fletcher preview the recent broadband announcement, on Radio National Breakfast "...Provides a definitive history of what has driven telecommunications and broadband policy - and, so the book argues, its failures." CommsDay "Fletcher provides plenty of insights into the complex telco world, its major players and how they play the policy-making game." Business Spectator "For anyone who has ever wondered why internet speeds are so much faster when they're overseas, why Telstra seems to charge such high prices, why a Foxtel cable doesn't snake past their house, why they have a patchy, sub-standard internet connection - or why Rudd and co. have bet the farm on a $43 billion Rolls-Royce - the answers are provided here." The Canberra Times

Paul Fletcher is the former director of regulatory and corporate affairs at Optus, an Australian broadband company, and now runs his own Sydney-based consultancy. Before joining Optus he was chief of staff to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston. He has previously worked as a lawyer and a corporate strategist.