Dispute over ADSL provider

A dispute has arisen over whether an ADSL2+ exchange at Woy Woy was brought online by Optus or the new Federally-funded OPEL consortium.

In a press release dated September 28, Minister for Communications Senator Helen Coonan discussed the launch at Woy Woy of an "OPEL ADSL2+ exchange that will deliver speeds of up to 20mbps".

She later stated in the press release that the exchange was enabled by Optus as part of its commercial contribution to provide 426 ADSL2+ exchanges.

An article at Information Technology website ITwire on October 23, almost a month later, stated that Optus General Manager of Technology and Planning Mr Peter Ferris said "(OPEL) exists to date in name only and ... funding is contingent on Optus proving that the technology can deliver".

According to the article, Mr Ferris told a conference in Sydney that: "OPEL does not exist as a technological entity at this point in time, it is only a trade mark ..."

"Optus and Elders are searching for a CEO for this hypothetical organisation and we are doing testing in WA and NSW to provide certified results."

A spokeswoman for Senator Coonan stated that when OPEL was announced in June the announcement included over 100 exchanges to be switched on by Optus.

"As indicated in the release, this exchange has been enabled by Optus as part of its commercial contribution to the 426 exchanges that were part of the OPEL announcement," the spokeswoman said.

She stated that OPEL Network was a registered company but would not confirm whether it had a chief executive officer, staff, funding or whether it existed as a technological entity.

Lyle Stone, 9 Nov 2007