Australia to pass laws for Telstra split

Canberra: Australian lawmakers are set to pass laws splitting Telstra's businesses, necessary for Prime Minister Julia Gillard to realise her A$35.7 billion (Dh128 billion) high-speed internet plan.

Gillard on Wednesday released part of NBN's corporate plan, boosted consumer protection and established a committee to oversee its rollout to woo independent Senators Steve Fielding and Nick Xenophon.

The government already has the support from the Australian Greens, clearing the way for the Telstra laws to pass in the Senate.

Telstra shares yesterday rose as much as 6.1 per cent in Sydney trading and closed up 3.6 per cent at A$2.88.

Gillard's government needs to gain the support of four non- party lawmakers in the House of Representatives and seven extra votes to pass laws in the Senate.

A vote on Telstra is expected in the Senate today, before Parliament has a two-month Christmas break.

High note

"This an important piece of legislation and it ends the year on a high note for the government," Nick Economou, a political scientist at Melbourne-based Monash University, said in a phone interview on Thursday.

"This makes way for substantive national policy that will be popular with voters in country electorates."

The national internet plan is the nation's largest infrastructure project and includes an A$9 billion deal with Melbourne-based Telstra, the nation's biggest phone company.

It will be completed by 2018, laying fibre optics that would reach 93 per cent of the population, with the remainder served by wireless and satellite coverage.

Gillard earlier this week intervened in negotiations to win the support of independent lawmakers for the laws.

"I'm very pleased that what's happened in the parliament this week is a win for families who are going to get faster, cheaper broadband," Gillard told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio yesterday.

"That's what has come out of the parliament this week and Australians want broadband."

Government agenda

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy introduced the national broadband plan laws to the lower house yesterday. Both houses of parliament are to debate that legislation next year.

"This will help Gillard dispel a notion the government has no agenda," Economou said.

"It will also help them shake this perception that the government and the parliament are marching to the beat of the Greens."

Hong Kong: 4G network rolls out

Telstra's Hong Kong mobile-phone unit started a fourth-generation network in the city to meet demand for high-speed wireless services and lift revenue.

The network, based on LTE, or Long Term Evolution, technology now covers 50 per cent of the city's population, Joseph O'Konek, chief executive officer at Telstra's CSL unit, said at a briefing yesterday.

CSL aims to offer 4G services in Hong Kong ahead of rivals including billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings.

Mobile-phone carriers including the US's Verizon Wireless and Japan's NTT DoCoMo have already unveiled plans to start the high-speed networks in their home markets.

Hutchison Telecommunications' 2.99 million mobile-phone users in Hong Kong at the end of June makes it the city's biggest carrier by subscribers, according to Macquarie Group analyst Lisa Soh.

CSL had 2.64 million at the end of June, according to Melbourne-based Telstra.

CSL's new service uses technology supplied by ZTE Corp, China's second-biggest maker of phone-equipment.