Internode warn of possible shortage of ADSL2+ ports in metro areas in next nine months.
Internode has warned of a possible shortage of ADSL 2+ ports in metro areas in next nine months.
Managing director Simon Hackett claims if no action is taken, "existing 'stocks' of ADSL2+ ports provided by competitive ISPs in many major metropolitan areas will start to run out within six to nine months."
"That will leave a total supply monopoly for Telstra BigPond ADSL2+ in those exchanges," he said.
Internode and other ISPs claim that the problem are "capped", or full, exchanges - meaning there is no more room for ISPs to add ADSL2+ equipment.
"There are nearly 80 capped exchanges out of about 300 that are critical to volume deployment of ADSL2+ in metro areas - hence around 1 in 4 exchanges in key competitive areas are now 'capped' by Telstra," Hackett told PCA.
In addition, the ISPs claim it is taking too long to access other telephone exchanges in order for them to install ADLS2+ equipment. ISPs must wait in turn in order to access each exchange.
The ACCC is now investigating the claims made by an ISP delegation.
In late February this year, Telstra announced that it would activate high-speed ADSL2+ broadband at more than 900 telephone exchanges nation wide. As a result of this action, a delegation of protesting ISPs, which included iinet, Internode, TSN Communications and Westnet, alleged that Telstra would not be obliged to offer the equivalent wholesale services and that the ISPs were being 'actively barred' from Telstra's extensive ADSL 2+ infrastructure.
ISPs met with senior ACCC officials last week in Canberra. At the meeting, they discussed barriers to further ADSL2+ construction work, including the 'capping' of exchanges, the lack of viable cross-provider churn mechanisms and extremely long exchange access delays.
"Its clear that this retail re-monopolisation of broadband is real, substantial, and actually gathering pace day by day at this point," Hackett said.