Telstra fingered in secretive NBN POI survey

A regulatory survey to gauge industry participation at NBN points of interconnect will progress out of public view, though Telstra is fingered by some ISPs as a source of some early problems.

The survey, kicked off by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in February, seeks to understand "the current levels of interconnection to the listed POIs". (pdf)

AAPT and Nextgen Networks are among the few responding industry players to indicate where problems in the current POI strategy may lie.

AAPT reports "issues with interconnection to temporary POIs and ... concerns about what appears to be delay tactics employed by certain POI operators". (pdf)

It also raises concerns about lack of equivalence in relation to ISPs and fibre operators accessing Telstra exchanges — where many NBN POIs are to be located.

However, an explanation of its concerns is censored, with the ISP citing "commercial in-confidence".

Nextgen also raises concerns over Telstra's role, saying that "the location of a majority of NBN POI's within Telstra exchange buildings means that the ACCC needs to carefully monitor the facilities access arrangements administered by Telstra into and within these facilities in order to ensure that no unnecessary anti-competitive bottlenecks are created for access seekers."

"These locations must be free to become points-of-interconnect and traffic exchange for all access seekers and not just Telstra," Nextgen states. (pdf)

Optus' response to the survey is entirely withheld for "commercial in-confidence" reasons.

Telstra and NBN Co also made submissions, but no portions will be made public.