EXCLUSIVE: The newly appointed chair of Internet Australia, Anne Hurley, has reacted angrily to a media report that she has backed away from IA’s advocacy of a full-fibre network for the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Hurley, a lawyer and former chief executive of telco industry body Communications Alliance, said on Tuesday that the article, in telecoms industry newsletter Communications Day, contained a number of “false and misleading comments” that needed to be corrected.
IA chief executive Patton told iTWire that the Communications Day article amounted to little more than a “hatchet job” on Hurley.
Hurley — appointed as IA chair last week — said the publication had ignored a comment emailed to them yesterday by Patton noting that: “For some time now Internet Australia has been calling on the government to abandon FttN in favour of FttDP. While we believe that Australia would have been better to have continued with FttP, the fact is there is now a middle ground – technology that can provide far better performance than FttN and which is upgradable, whereas FttN is not”.
{loadposition peter}Patton and IA have been publicly advocating FttDP since early last year.
Hurley also says that the article in Communications Day “accuses Laurie of decrying the key network technology which enables FttDP–G.Fast”, and she labels the claim as “completely wrong”.
She pointed to an Op-Ed in the Fairfax media late last year in which, she says, Patton stated: “On the very near horizon is another piece of new technology called "dot fast" which provides the icing on the cake for FttDP. G.Fast and its higher speed sibling XG.Fast are DSL lines that promise to dramatically increase the rate at which data can be transmitted across short distances over copper wires.”
Hurley is also annoyed about what she says is another “falsehood” in the Communications Day article claiming that the federal government is “known to have been disdainful of IA’s 2016 lobbying against the NBN”.
“Firstly, only last week IA met members of the Prime Minister’s personal staff to provide advice on the NBN, at Mr Turnbull’s request. Hardly a sign of disdain,” Hurley says.
“Secondly, IA has not lobbied against the NBN, but merely against the use of FttN. It is worth noting that in a member survey last year 80% of respondents told IA that they do not believe that FttN is appropriate technology.”
Here’s what Hurley also says in her statement issued to iTWire this morning:
“In a post on LinkedIn in October last year, this is what Laurie had to say in relation to IA’s lobbying for better broadband:
“Frankly, I’m tired of people claiming that calling out the flaws in the current NBN strategy amounts to an attack on the organisation, or to adopting a partisan political stance. Since when is it not in the national interest for expert organisations and individuals to speak up when governments get things wrong, for whatever reason?
“There are many good people working on the NBN and this needs to be acknowledged. For my part, I have penned an open letter to NBN employees, which I posted on various social media sites. 'Congratulations on launching the second satellite. For the avoidance of any misunderstanding, the efforts you’re making to build us a national broadband network are appreciated.
“It’s just that a lot of us don’t think you should be made to use ageing copper wires and old Pay-TV cables. I know from the many discussions I’ve had with you that plenty of people at nbn feel the same. You should be proud of the vital work you’re doing. I’m sure you’ll be even more proud when you are able to revert to using 21st century fibre.”
Hurley points out that in its last paragraph the Communications Day article refers to “an extensive number of departures from the organisation of late”.
“The facts are that two of (only) three examples given are indeed members who have resigned. They, no doubt, have their reasons. The third person named was former director Narelle Clark who stepped down from the board after nearly 15 years but remains a member of IA,” Hurley explains.
“Over the past two years, coinciding with Laurie’s appointment, and following the board’s determination to increase its effectiveness led by my predecessor George Fong, IA has seen a significant increase in both individual and organisational members.
“In conclusion, I am extremely saddened that the first interview I have given since becoming chair last week has been misused in an attack on an organisation I believe is acting in the best interests of all Australian Internet users, as is our mission.
“Like any organisation of its kind, IA has people with varying points of view. The one common bond we share is a desire to see Australia at the forefront when it comes to using the Internet for both economic and social progress. To do this we need a future-proofed NBN. That requires a return to the underlying use of fibre rather than copper.
“As I said at the time of my appointment: 'I joined IA specifically because I was so disappointed with the NBN currently being rolled out despite its obvious fundamental technical inferiority. Like George, I firmly believe that IA is the right organisation to take up the challenge of convincing our politicians that we need to abandon the use of ageing copper wires and revert to building a future-proofed NBN based on fibre',” Hurley concludes.