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On 13/08/2010 10:02 AM, Chris Chaundy wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTin52AO=JTJu_dxvVhm_62x3SdCMRHYJh8Y3NxcM@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Just for the 'younger' members of this group, there once was a
government department
that was basically in charge of *all* communications (telephone,
postal and telegraph -
watch some black-and-white movies if you want to know what this is :-)
- it was called
the PMG (Post Master General's department). Telecom came into being
after this was
split up into the pre-privatization 'Telstra' and Australia Post (aka Auspost).
</pre>
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<font size="-1"><font face="Trebuchet MS">Yes... your point? (If
this was a dig at me Chris, swing n miss :P) <br>
</font></font><br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTin52AO=JTJu_dxvVhm_62x3SdCMRHYJh8Y3NxcM@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">If the original Telstra privatization had been carefully thought
through and not screwed up,
we wouldn't be going through this whole NBN discussion now.
</pre>
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<font size="-1"><font face="Trebuchet MS">Absolutely... but we just
followed the same old Australian way didn't we? Pay no heed and
fall behind. Can't win really, can we? We ask government to
look after the "cables under the footpath", and we end up in a
monolithic, sloth-speed monopoly. We ask the private sector to
look after it, and we get companies only spending money where
they can make it back (of course).<br>
<br>
(A point well made by someone whom I now can't remember on last
nights' ABC1 Q&A...)<br>
<br>
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