Correspondents in Canberra | November 27, 2008
THE federal Government has rejected suggestions it is being bullied by Telstra to accept a non-compliant bid to build the national broadband network.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said Telstra was "absolutely not" calling the shots on the broadband project tender process.
But Telstra's proposal falls short of some of the government's stated objectives, including rolling out broadband to 98 per cent of Australians.
Australia's largest telco has lodged a bid that proposes to only roll out broadband to up to 90 per cent of homes.
But Communications Minister Stephen Conroy on Thursday said Telstra was "absolutely not" calling the shots with regard to the broadband project tender process.
"Telstra have been demanding concessions, as have others, as part of this process," he told reporters in Canberra.
"We're not going to be pushed around on this, we're not going to deviate from what we've set down, because it wouldn't be a fair process otherwise."
Senator Conroy said he wasn't surprised that the bidders were placing extra demands on the government to make concessions.
"These are hard-nosed, commercial negotiators and this will be a tough, hard-nosed negotiation between the expert panel."
The government stood by its commitment to roll out broadband to 98 per cent of the population over five years, he said.
AAP