Politics, policy and fixed-line telecommunications provision: Insights from Australia.

Over the past 40 years, telecommunications policy worldwide has been dominated by the privatisation of former government-owned firms, the pursuit of increasing competition as well as the delegation of day-to-day operations of industry decision-making and oversight from core governments to autonomous regulators sitting at arms-length from political decision-making. One of the most (apparently) dramatic reversals of this trend has occurred in Australia where the federal government has set up a state-owned company (NBN Co) to fully replace and upgrade the fixed-line infrastructure for voice and broadband communications for the entire country. Some argued that the NBN heralded a reversal of a "failed, neoliberal" deregulation and pro-competition policy agenda in Australia, and a return to "social democratic" values. The NBN has attracted interest as a possible model for other governments looking to fund broadband infrastructure. The NBN Co's network is nearing completion. It has proved disappointing in many ways, with costs escalations, missed deadlines and a downscaling of the original full-fibre footprint to a mixed technology model (MTM). It has also proved politically divisive, with some claiming the MTM changes represent the reassertion of a neoliberal political agenda. In this paper, we trace the evolution of the fixed-line telecommunications industry in Australia from the 1980s to the present along the dimensions of privatisation, deregulation and competition in voice, broadband and policy settings. We find that contrary to popular political rhetoric, the Australian industry reforms have been characterised by only a partial and inconsistent progression towards the international policy objectives. In particular, ongoing government ownership of the incumbent created perverse incentives for both regulatory and industry actors and ensured political involvement in import network investment and operations decisions which in other jurisdictions are delegated to private-sector owners and regulators at arms-length from political influence. We contend that the NBN was not a social democratic response to failed neoliberal policies, nor was the MTM a neoliberal reassertion. Rather, the politicisation of the NBN is a function of the inability to decentralise ownership and control of the industry away from the government. These issues will continue to dominate the Australian debate, as the statutory context requires the privatisation of the NBN within five years of its projected 2021 completion. Extreme caution is warranted for jurisdictions looking to the NBN model for guidance. • The trend of privatisation and deregulation in telecommunications was reversed by Australia's National Broadband Network. • The NBN was not a social democratic response to failed neoliberal policies, nor was the MTM a neoliberal reassertion. • Rather, the politicisation of the NBN is a function of the inability to decentralise ownership and control of the industry. • The paper plots the history of liberalisation and deregulation (and partial reversal) over the past 40 years. • The politicisation of Australian broadband investment cannot be described as a rejection of liberalisation policies. • Despite a promising start with institutions to govern a liberalising industry, the requisite privatisation did not occur. • The dilemma of competing interests of government ownership and oversight in the industry (Telstra) has returned with the NBN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]