24th May 2007­- Sydney, Australia – Tell the Truth Telstra (T4) announced today that last week’s Australian Competition Tribunal’s ruling proves that Telstra can’t be trusted to deliver fair access pricing should it build the Fibre to the Node (FTTN) network.

Telstra’s argument that it suffers a massive loss for delivering services in regional areas was rejected by the Competition Tribunal, headed by Justice Goldberg of the Federal Court. It found Telstra’s claims about its costs could not be relied upon and rejected Telstra’s network cost model as a reasonable tool for determining these costs.

“This is the third time Telstra’s network pricing claims have been deemed unreasonable. The finding proves Telstra’s pricing models are flawed - and its cost claims unsubstantiated.” said a T4 spokesperson.

“The Competition Tribunal’s findings demolish the credibility of Telstra’s pricing model. This is the same flawed regime that underpins Telstra’s FTTN pricing claims,” he said.

Telstra has reportedly been claiming that it must be compensated in the order of $500 million for providing services to Australians living outside the capital cities.

This is on top of the hundred of millions of dollars it continues to receive in annual payments directly from competitors, and the billions of dollars that the Government has committed in regional telecommunications grants programs over the past decade.

It was also notable that so much of the data that makes up the basis of Telstra’s claims was removed from the public version of the Tribunal’s judgment.

“Telstra insists it wants public debate – yet at every opportunity it seeks to avoid scrutiny,” said a T4 spokesperson.  “The Competition Tribunal judgment was a perfect opportunity for Telstra to outline the data behind its claims – however it’s again chosen to hide this from the public.”

T4 reissued a call today for an independent assessment of Telstra’s claims that it suffers losses in rural areas.

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About “Tell the Truth Telstra” (T4) -http://www.tellthetruthtelstra.com.au/

The Tell the Truth Telstra (T4) campaign was launched in April 2007, to counter Telstra’s campaign of misinformation on telecommunications and broadband competition and regulation in Australia.

Tell the Truth Telstra (T4) is an initiative of Australia’s leading telecommunications carriers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) including AAPT, Adam Internet, Austar, iiNet, Internode, Macquarie Telecom, Powertel, Primus Telecom, Telarus, TransACT, WestNet and Unwired.

The Tell the Truth Telstra (T4)initiative commenced with a united complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) asking it to investigate whether Telstra’s conduct amounts to misleading and deceptive conduct.

The Tell the Truth Telstra (T4) initiative documents a list of Telstra’s myths and highlights their misleading nature.  An accompanying education program includes an information kit for MPs, a public Web site (http://www.tellthetruthtelstra.com.au/), and a series of information sessions for MPs, exposing the truth behind Telstra’s attempt to gain relief from regulation.

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