TelstraClear boss makes most colourful attack yet on Joyce

TelstraClear chief executive Allan Freeth has launched another tirade at communications minister Steven Joyce.

And while the likes of Vodafone and InternetNZ carefully couch their critiques in diplomatic lanugage, Dr Freeth gives it both barrels.

Today he launched his most colourful attack yet on Mr Joyce.

Flippant
“The minister’s flippant rejection of the mechanism of special access undertaking, highly successful as a price guarantee mechanism in Australia, is testament to the fact he is hell-bent on building a state-funded and protected UFB monopoly," the TelstraClear boss said this afternoon.

“This is consistent with his lack of interest in working with me or other industry and consumer players. Repeated offers of meetings and compromise are acknowledged by his office and then ignored."

Far exceeding Telecom shareholders' dreams
“If Mr Reynolds and his team at Telecom win the Crown fibre process to build the bulk of the UFB network and this legislation is unchanged, then I believe they will have achieved an outcome far exceeding his shareholders’ dreams: the reestablishment of the Telecom infrastructure monopoly of old," Dr Freeth said.

Gracioius
"In this case, I graciously salute my competitor’s cleverness and skill at achieving such a coup," the TelstraClear boss continued.

“Specifically, in relation to the special access undertaking proposal, the Minister is again being misleading in saying price certainty won’t be achieved and it will delay the UFB build. There are ways in which a special access mechanism could be established within the government’s timeframe and would not affect its vision and would, indeed, help achieve it.

“I call upon the minister to be honest and, if he has no intention of changing anything in relation to the regulation, he should stop misleading consumer groups and industry stakeholders and wasting our time."

TelstraClear, which is in the process of upgrading its Wellington and Christchurch networks, is a fully owned subsidiary of Telstra. It operationally merged with its Australian parent in December 2009.

On the other side of the Tasman, after a fiery start, Telstra has adoped a more collegial approach to the National Broadband Network, engaging with the government in a $11 billion cash for assets deal.

Joyce bites back
At the recent TelCon11 conference in Auckland, Mr Joyce made what appeared to be a backhand reference to Dr Freeth and TelstraClear.

The minister told the audience he would be happy to put away the taxpayers' cheque book and go home. But "telcos who seem to have large advertising budgets" had not declared their own ultrafast broadband plans.