Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 08:53:51 +1000 From: "Tim McCullagh" <timbo@halenet.com.au> To: "Enno Davids" <nconedd@mensa.national.com.au>, "jesse reynolds" <jesse@va.com.au> Cc: <jwyatt@rwsystems.net>, <danny@clari.net.au>, <freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: cable modems and FreeBSD and ADSL in Australia Message-ID: <009001bf1a85$90f34da0$778d25cb@temp19.halenet.com.au>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Hi All, For what it is worth, it is my understanding that the ACCC has opened up access to the Telstra local loop, and will do so until it determines that there is enough competition, then it will close access to the local loop. It is also my understanding that you would need to have a carrier licence to have access to it.... What is realy worth keeping in mind though is that in many areas (particually Country areas) the cable would be more trouble than it is worth, as it has not been maintained very well, design rules have been ignored and given that Telstra now uses managers with little experience in this field, nothing is likely to change. For those that have knowledge in this area I am referring to changes in cable conductor diameter, the lack of screen continuity and general poor management practices (Pair Gain Systems). There is also the issue of ISP using a copper / satelite solution which may be more feasible / affordable even though it has its limitations. This is not to say that we should avoid the issue of adsl, but we should understand some of the head aches we might get, particually if you do not have an understanding of current Telstra cable practices.... To give but 1 example have any of you got cusrtomers 2 to 3 KM from an exchange complaining about dropouts and unable to get a connection. While in theory this is considered a reasonable distance from the exchange, in practice if there are 2 or 3 changes in the cable conductor size then it is conceivable that the line loss will be outside the 6.5 db limit. If the customer or yourself report the phone as being unable to connect then Telstra will perform DC line tests which do not measure line loss, they will then turn around and telll you the problem is your customer equipment.... The worrying part of all this is that Telstra has not trained its fault staff to look for such problems, and given the cost of repairing such problems they are unlikely to do so. regards Tim -----Original Message----- From: Enno Davids <nconedd@mensa.national.com.au> To: jesse reynolds <jesse@va.com.au> Cc: jwyatt@rwsystems.net <jwyatt@rwsystems.net>; danny@clari.net.au <danny@clari.net.au>; freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG <freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG> Date: Tuesday, 19 October 1999 9:16 Subject: Re: cable modems and FreeBSD >| jesse@va.com.au wrote: >| >| This is a bit off the topic, but how accessable is ADSL in Australia? >| I'm very keen to know how much, who to organise it through, where >| they'll install it etc. >| > >Not offerred anywhere commercially yet AFAIK. Telstra has been dragging >their heels for some time now and finally announced plans to deploy it about >2 weeks ago. The suggestion was though it wouldn't actually be available >till this time next year. > >The other item of note was that the ACCC recently ruled that Telstra had to >allow 3rd party providers access to their local loops, i.e. the wires from >exchange to customer premises. That means its now possible for those 3rd >parties to provide things like xDSL without the need to lay cable to every >house in the country. Needless to say this is all a bit new and while policy >now exists, the mechanics of getting non-Telstra equipment into their >exchanges are still being worked out. > >Sadly this is all moot anyway, as the big disincentive in Oz till now has >been the ongoing tariffs applied to data circuits not the costs of having >them installed in any event. Until we find out what they're going to charge >for xDSL it would be foolish to make decisions about it. > > >Cheers, > >Enno. > > > >To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org >with "unsubscribe freebsd-isp" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-isp" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?009001bf1a85$90f34da0$778d25cb>