No NBN without Telstra: Budde

Speaking at the Broadband World 2008 conference in Sydney, Budde used his position as Chair of proceedings to try and clear the air on a tumultuous 48 hours which saw Telstra cancel its presence at today’s NBN debate.

Budde claimed Telstra would not come back to the negotiating table with conference organisers Terrapinn even after an offer was made to add more Telstra panellists into the discussion.

However, Budde urged bidding rivals and the industry at large not to bar Telstra from the debate, despite its decision to withdraw from the conference.

“I believe we cannot build a national network without Telstra,” said Budde.

“Even if Terria were to win the tender they would still have to work closely with Telstra on the [NBN] issue. Whether you like it or not we have to sit together and work this out.”

Budde implored delegates not to ignore or ridicule Telstra in the remaining part of the process.

“It’s not in our interest to ignore Telstra,” he said.

“Telstra will still be a critical part of telecommunications in Australia. We all need to sit down and address the seriousness of the issues brought about by the NBN and the ways to go forward.”

Shadow broadband minister, Senator Nick Minchin, also weighed into Telstra’s decision not to go head-to-head with Terria today.

“I’m very sorry Telstra has pulled out of the conference,” said Minchin.

“It seems a mistake on their part.”

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