Stuart Kennedy | May 23, 2008
THE Terria consortium, made up of Optus and seven smaller carriers, has lodged the $5 million bond required of potential bidders chasing the tender to build the federal government's national broadband network.
The bond, due today, unlocks access to network information provided by Telstra and other carriers, and puts bidders into the competition to snare the $4.7 billion in funding for the NBN promised by the Rudd Government.
"Terria’s lodgement of its $5 million bid bond confirms that we have taken our spot on the starting block in the race to deliver a national high-speed broadband network," Terria chairman and former NSW treasurer Michael Egan said.
Telstra, Terria and Optus, which has handed over a bond in its own right separate from the Terria bid, are the only bidders so far to acknowledge lodging bonds. The next step will be to respond to the Government's request for proposals.
The deadline for the RFP had been July 25, but earlier this week Communications Minister Stephen Conroy bowed to pressure from Telstra’s rivals and extended the deadline to 12 weeks after the date network information was made available.
Terria earlier this week changed its branding, having previously been known as the G9 (Group of Nine), a moniker which became redundant when G9 member AAPT swallowed fellow member PowerTel.
Mr Egan reiterated his group’s belief in the NBN being structured as a wholesale bandwidth provider, separate from retail interests.
"We believe the pro-competitive nature of our bid will stand in stark contrast to Telstra’s which is the only other public bid to date," he said.
At Wednesday’s Online and Communications Council meeting, State and Territory Ministers expressed their strong preference for a solution to be operated by a genuine wholesale provider that is separate from any retail service provider.