Throwing (up) with The Flintstones...


To: The ABC
Sent: 21:30 h May 5, 2004

Very timely discussion centered on Telstra on Wednesday, coinciding as it did with the massive hike in line rentals.

The carrier is of course once more exploiting its 'natural monopoly' position as it sees the writing on the wall for the CAN (customer access network, i.e. the last mile of the fixed-line network). Gouge the poor buggers before they all go ALL mobile... which is exactly what I'd be doing NOW if Optus provided a reasonably fast radio link to my bush burg for SOME Internet access.

As a former communications journalist on record as being fearlessly critical of Telecom/Telstra since the year dot, i.e. a decade before dot.com, I had rooted early for the privatisation of the carrier. I thought, then, that this might discipline the arrogant giant, help level the playing field and generally work out in the public interest.

Now I'm no longer sure: as I once said in a headline, "Malpractice makes perfect" (unchallenged at the time even though the then carrier's joint ventures lawyer John Allen told me then MD Mel Ward was "mad keen to sue"), and even as a casual onlooker during the decade since deregulation I've seen enough 'interesting' moves in the market to make me rue my writ...

On the cash-for-comments aspect, let me ignore the insufferable escapee from a comic strip (The Flintstones?) but instead offer this possible remedy:

A. Jones and J. Laws and their ilk are required to preface any sponsored spiel by disclosing the FULL amount they, or their owners, are paid - each time a story involving their sponsor is aired.

It would be a desperately dumb rural recluse who didn't think there was something suss if s/he heard Jonesy say:

"...and while on the subject of Telstra - WHO ARE PAYING MY STATION $1.5 million a year for putting across THEIR point of view - did you know the fax that I DIDN'T GET at my old network was sent over Telstra's purpose-built, effortless, all-digital FaxStream network?"

FaxStream be dammed [sic]!


P.S.: Such full disclosure is in fact exactly what I practised when I put together XXX magazine almost single-handedly each month for XXX Publications as 'editorial director/associate publisher' - with a little bit of my industry friends. Check out the early issues, if XXX has kept copies (I somehow doubt it...), otherwise I can oblige!