UPDATED #2 | The G9 consortium of Telcos has submitted proposed pricing and access undertakings for a Fibre to the Node (FTTN) network to the ACCC, which has published the document on its website.

"The proposed network will reach more than four million households and businesses and then progressively roll out to more densely populated regional centres", said the G9.

"The lodgement of the final SAU is the culmination of 14 months of intense work between G9 members, financiers, policy makers and the ACCC. It demonstrates the G9's unwavering commitment to competitive and open access broadband."

The SAU document has now been made available to the public (1.4MB PDF). It dictates the pricing model and terms for ISPs to access the network.

"Initially, access prices (per customer per month) will be in a range between $15 and $25 for basic telephone access service; $19 and $29 for the basic service plus a 1.5 Mbps broadband service; and between $40 and $50 for the basic service plus a broadband service of up to 24 Mbps. The network can be upgraded to higher speed (VDSL) over time as consumer demand dictates." These prices are ex-GST and are charged to ISPs wanting access to the network. It is only part of the cost of supplying the service to a household.

The G9 has proposed a number of initial speed bands for the broadband component: 1.5Mbit, 6Mbit, 12Mbit and uncapped speed. Internode carrier relations manager John Lindsay told Whirlpool that the network would be capable of 1Mbit upstream speeds and above. "The network has to be capable of delivering the services the various G9 members deliver today", he said. "Internode delivers Annex-M ADSL2+ so the G9 network will be able to deliver the same thing."

The announcement has thrown down the gauntlet to Telstra to reveal its own FTTN details, after indicative pricing of over $80/month was floated by its Group Managing Director, Phil Burgess. "These prices are substantially lower than those Telstra is reportedly planning to charge if it were to build a national broadband network, because unlike Telstra the G9 is not trying to protect existing monopoly profits", said the G9.

The ACCC has already started adding information to its website regarding the proposal, and says that once a "discussion paper is published on its website the ACCC will begin a public consultation process in accordance with its standard practices for assessing undertakings."

Links:

• G9 Press Release  (Optus, 30 May 2007)
• ACCC G9 details