Here are a few I have come across the last week or so. Note: Each link is followed by a title and a few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.
General Comment
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What a week with huge data leaks happening all over and the Government going absolutely feral, letting people’s data be exploited for all sorts of rather questionable reasons.
Even more amazing we have the Government claiming paper scripts will be optional by Christmas. Let me know how likely you think that is!
The NBN seems to be also making a lot of news. If what I am provided with here is anything to go by so it should!
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Govt promises paper scripts will be optional by Christmas
New software for the e-prescribing system is in the pipeline
1st August 2019
GPs who want to ditch paper scripts will be able to do so within months, the government says.
The Department of Health says it will finish building a national, paper-free e-prescribing system before the end of 2019, allowing doctors to issue legally valid scripts using their clinical software.
The long-awaited reform was first announced in May last year, when the government earmarked $30 million for paperless prescribing in the 2018 federal budget.
However, it wasn’t immediately clear what the money was funding.
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A brand new script
All systems will be set to go on full-scale e-prescribing by the end of 2019, Minister announces
Australia’s national e-prescribing network should be operational by the end of 2019, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced at the PSA19 Conference in Sydney, last weekend.
Mr Hunt said that e-prescribing was the “final piece of the puzzle” in setting up a fully operational e-health network.
“Very shortly, our framework will be completed, and I can announce today that we expect the National Australian e-prescribing network up and running before the end of 2019,” Mr Hunt said.
“As with real-time monitoring, we just need the starts to come on board. We’ve already laid the railroad tracks for this very significant change.”
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Let down: Doctors losing faith in cervical register
Eighteen months after it went live, the screening program is still missing patient records
31st July 2019
Gaps in patient records of cervical screening are still coming to light 18 months after the national cancer screening register went live, doctors say.
GPs and other specialists have reported that missing details include past treatment and abnormal results.
Dubbing the system a “let-down” for women and clinicians, Melbourne gynaecologist Dr Bronwen Eldridge says the gaps in records are “not just isolated incidents”.
She estimates she performs 8-10 colposcopies a week under the renewed screening program, and for every 2-3 of these patients, the information on the register is either inaccurate or missing.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/unacceptable-risks-gps-raise-concerns-over-tomorrows-major-pip-revamp
'Unacceptable risks': GPs raise concerns over tomorrow's major PIP revamp
They warn that the privacy of patient data extracted from practice software may be at risk
31st July 2019
A group of GPs have written an open letter urging caution on tomorrow’s multimillion-dollar revamp of the Practice Incentives Program, claiming there are not enough safeguards for patient data.
From 1 August, practices will be able to sign up to the PIP quality improvement (QI) incentive, which pays GP clinics to collect patient data and send it to primary health networks.
The scheme will see practices receive $5 per standardised whole patient equivalent (SWPE) per year in return for data on 10 'quality improvement measures', including patients’ smoking status and weight classification.
It will be worth up to $50,000 per practice taking part.
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GPs urged to show caution when joining PIP QI
The Federal Government program will inject $200 million into primary care, but what do practice owners need to be aware of before signing up?
02 Aug 2019
The Practice Incentive Program Quality Improvement (PIP QI) Incentive requires accredited general practices to share de-identified, aggregated data with local Primary Health Networks (PHNs) and participate in quality improvement activities.
In return, practices will receive financial remuneration, as well as information to help review and improve performance. It has also been designed to allow GPs to have a greater role in managing the health of their whole practice population.
Recently released guidelines finalised many details surrounding eligibility requirements and data sharing expectations for the twice-delayed program, but GPs and practices are still being urged to fully consider the arrangements before signing up.
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In return, practices will receive financial remuneration, as well as information to help review and improve performance. It has also been designed to allow GPs to have a greater role in managing the health of their whole practice population.
Recently released guidelines finalised many details surrounding eligibility requirements and data sharing expectations for the twice-delayed program, but GPs and practices are still being urged to fully consider the arrangements before signing up.
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Doctors use AI to decipher autopsy notes in Million Death Study
1st August 2019
Since 1998, the Million Death Study has been tracking causes of death in India.
Every six months, non-doctors visit 2.4 million households to conduct ‘verbal autopsies’ of anybody who has died since the last visit.
Two doctors then review the handwritten reports to declare an official cause of death.
And the project has had an effect, with its findings on snakebite deaths leading the WHO to invest in a $137 million global anti-snakebite strategy.
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How AI can help manage prostate cancer
Aug 2, 2019 — 2.54pm
As the new era of artificial intelligence and machine learning dawns in prostate cancer, it is bringing new hope and new concerns.
It is expected to improve diagnosis, lead to faster decisions and increase accuracy in treatment. Potentially, it could save the healthcare system a lot of expense and spare men a lot of anxiety.
The multiple technology platforms involved in managing this disease have already produced billions of bits of unstructured data that cognitive computers can scan to extract relevant information and recognise complex patterns.
Driven by dynamic algorithms, they learn as they go, growing ever more confident.
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Queensland hospitals are $36 million in debt
By Felicity Caldwell
July 27, 2019 — 3.24pm
Queensland’s public health system is more than $30 million in the red, in large part due to implementation of the state’s controversial $1.5 billion integrated electronic medical record.
The state's 16 hospital and health services (HHS) were expected to have ended the 2018-19 financial year with a combined deficit of $36.30 million.
But the beleaguered Cairns and Hinterland HHS will soon get its finances back under control three years after a projected $80 million budget blow-out.
Health Minister Steven Miles, who revealed the details in estimates documents, said the shortfall across the health system was being driven by several factors, including the rollout of the $1.5 billion integrated electronic medical record system (ieMR) and the decision by several services to reinvest earnings from previous years.
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31 July 2019
Specialists have new BP update to play with
Medical software firm Best Practice has just released Ruby SP1, an update for the practice management software, tailored to its VIP.net user base in Australia and New Zealand.
This specialist-specific software aims to refine previous performance and stability with respect to financial processing.
This means faster loading times for financial summary with large data sets. It also means greater stability in financial functionality.
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Back door to access data ‘deliberately left open’
- 12:00AM August 1, 2019
A “loophole” to allow councils, small government agencies and professional bodies to access data from telecommunication companies was intentionally left open when strict mandatory data retention laws were brought in four years ago, the Department of Home Affairs says.
Telstra and industry body the Communications Alliance have told a parliamentary committee reviewing the metadata retention regime that at least 87 bodies and agencies — excluding police and security agencies authorised to receive such information under Telecommunication Interception and Access Act — have used another piece of legislation to seek data.
Telstra described the use by those agencies of section 280 of Telecommunications Act — allowing the release of data “if the use or disclosure is required or authorised by or under law” — as a way of “circumventing the intended restriction” of the act.
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Telstra seeks limits on metadata access
Telstra is calling for the access organisations are given under the law to the private metadata of Australians to be restricted when it is for minor matters.
Australian Associated Press July 31, 20197:01am
The private metadata of Australians is reportedly being accessed for matters that have nothing to do with crimes or national security, because of a loophole in data retention laws.
At least 87 organisations, including councils and small government agencies, have sought metadata held by telecommunications companies under mandatory data-retention laws, a federal parliamentary inquiry has heard, The Australian reported on Wednesday.
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Debate over release of Medicare data continues *Edited to add statement from DHS*
Jennifer Doggett on: August 01, 2019 In: health and medical research, health ethics, mental health, The Conversation
The debate over the use of Medicare data to recruit consumers for a study on bi-polar disorder continues with both consumers and experts expressing concern about the practice and calling for greater transparency from government in its management of personal health data.
In an article published in The Conversation, Bruce Baer Arnold, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Canberra and Wendy Bonython, Associate Professor of Law, Bond University, argued that the use of personal medical data to recruit study participants is both “ethically and legally questionable.”
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Medicare data used to recruit people with bipolar for research
By Kate Aubusson
July 29, 2019 — 12.00am
A letter sent to almost 50,000 patients prescribed lithium inviting them to take part in a bipolar study has raised questions about how Medicare stores and uses private healthcare information.
UNSW psychiatrist Professor Gordon Parker first became aware of a study investigating the genetics of bipolar when a former patient sent him an angry email accusing him of breaching her privacy.
“She was furious with me, believing that she was contacted by Medicare because I had blown her confidentiality,” he said.
But the letter had been sent by the Department of Health Services (DHS) on behalf of a research team at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute inviting recipients to participate in a study exploring potential biomarkers for bipolar disorder.
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Doctor slams govt for using PBS data to ID patients with bipolar
Human services department admits it trawled through records to invite patients for a drug study
2nd August 2019
Government officials have admitted trawling through PBS records to identify the names and addresses of thousands of patients prescribed lithium carbonate so they could be recruited for a study on the drug.
After coming up with a list of 50,000 patients, the Department of Human Services says it then sent letters, asking the patients if they wanted to sign up to the study led by the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane.
Some patients were apparently alarmed when they opened the letter and wanted to know how a government agency knew of their diagnosis, assuming their psychiatrists had been sharing their medical information.
Professor Gordon Parker, one of Australia’s leading psychiatrists, said he was only made aware of the mail-out when a former patient sent a “furious” email accusing him of a confidentiality breach.
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Government prepares to match Medicare, Centrelink data to combat fraud
New data-matching initiative follows on heels of controversial ‘robodebt’ program
The Department of Human Services is preparing to launch a new program that will combine data from Centrelink and Medicare in an effort to unearth discrepancies between records held at the two agencies.
Protocols for the program state that it will seek to find differences in the recording of “life events” for individuals that have records with Medicare and Centrelink.
“Where expected life events have not occurred this may highlight high-risk identities and the need for further analysis to determine possible fraudulent behaviour and/or record correctness,” the document states.
Senior lecturer in administrative law at La Trobe, Darren Donovan, was the first to note the publication of the new protocol.
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Robo-debt scheme ramped up with new Medicare data-matching initiative
By Dana McCauley
July 30, 2019 — 11.45pm
The Morrison government is ramping up its robo-debt operations despite problems with incorrect debt notices, launching a new data-matching initiative using Medicare data to look for "discrepancies" between people's Centrelink claims and medical records.
A gazette notice quietly released by the Department of Human Services last week outlined the new data-matching program, which aimed to identify social security fraud by matching "identities and details held in Centrelink records with those held in Medicare records".
Minister for Government Services Stuart Robert confirmed on Tuesday that as many as one in five debt recovery notices issued by his department may be incorrect, and apologised to a woman who had received a debt notice for her dead son.
"Because of the size of the debt being uneconomical to recover and the length of time, the department should have simply waived the debt," he said during Question Time.
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Interoperability and Standards Update – Sunday 11th August – Melbourne
IHE Australia in partnership with HISA are offering our annual update on healthcare interoperability and standards on the weekend prior to the HIC conference. If you live in Melbourne don’t miss it and if joining us in Melbourne for HIC this offers additional value. The day-long session will focus on electronic health communication and standardisation relevant to health providers, managers and the IT industry. This Pre-HIC workshop will be held on Sunday 11 August and will examine local and international eHealth experience and standards to move healthcare connectivity forward. While standards involved are somewhat “hidden” from view, knowing about them is crucial for purchasers and users of healthcare technology. Registration and further information: https://www.hisa.org.au/hic/ihe-workshop/
Program themes
Medical devices:
- Achieving connectivity in new and existing hospitals
- Security challenges: Are medical devices the soft underbelly of our IT system
- Standards – IHE Patient Care Device profiles and emerging Service Orientated Device Connectivity (SDC@IHE)
Health Information Exchange:
- Building on IHE Cross Enterprise Document Share – the foundation of MyHR
- Connecting regional exchanges – learning from the USA experience
- Accessing images via MyHR and bridging the hospital and community image divide
FHIR – Fast Health Interoperability Resources:
- Unlocking data from EMRs and the evolving “App” ecosystem
- Integrating Apps for users – same provider – same patient
- FHIR the year in review from Grahame Grieve
Standards for health IT in Australia:
- State of play: secure messaging, HL7, FHIR, SNOMED and ISO
- Australian Digital Health Agency consultation insight
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An app to prevent pregnancy? Don’t count on it
July 29, 2019 6.17am AEST
Clinical Associate Professor, Discipline of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonatology, University of Sydney
Fertility awareness apps are being championed as a new approach to contraception. In reality, while the technology may be new, women have been predicting the fertile days in their menstrual cycles to prevent pregnancy for a very long time.
But the growth of the “femtech” industry, alongside a seemingly growing wave of younger women looking to move away from hormonal methods of contraception, has led to a renewed interest.
Fertility awareness methods and apps can help women better understand their bodies, are relatively cost-effective, and have no side-effects.
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Trauma advice is just a tap away with this app
Dr Park is a GP on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
29th July 2019
No need to panic too much the next time you chop a leg off or happen across someone who has suffered a similarly traumatic injury.
Now you can simply grab your iPhone and start tapping away madly on the new NSW trauma app.
Created by the NSW Institute of Trauma and Injury Management, the app is free to download and literally has all the information you might need in a trauma situation.
Retrieval planning, burns guidelines, paediatric information... if you can injure it, it’s probably in here.
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New app sounds good for people with cochlear implants
By Stuart Layt
August 1, 2019 — 9.41pm
An Australian-first app has been developed to help people with a cochlear implant navigate the difficult next steps after the device is turned on.
The implant, which gives even people with profound deafness the ability to hear, is considered a major medical breakthrough and a massive benefit for users.
But the struggle many formerly deaf people face once they can hear the world around them is not as well known.
“For some people it’s literally like learning a new language,” said Elliott Miller, the developer of the Hearoes app.
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2 August 2019
Electronic noses are not something to be sniffed at
Professor Anke-Hilse Maitland-Van Der Zee used to be a genetics researcher, but it was finicky, often frustrating work.
“Sometimes we found associations but usually they were not very strong,” she says. “It was always very hard to replicate them.”
Now, she runs a lab at Amsterdam UMC that uses electronic noses to detect signs of asthma, COPD and lung cancer in the breath of patients. It sounds fantastically futuristic, I know. But, as she puts it, “the results we see with exhaled breath are actually far stronger than what I’ve ever seen in genetics”.
An electronic nose is quite similar to a human nose. It senses the volatile organic chemicals that we humans would describe as “smells”.
While human noses have around 400 types of scent receptors, the “SpiroNose” used by this Dutch research team has just seven receptors.
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The effective and ethical development of Artificial Intelligence: an opportunity to improve our wellbeing
30 Jul 2019
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more advanced its applications will become increasingly complex and will find their place in homes, work places and cities.
AI offers broad-reaching opportunities, but uptake also carries serious implications for human capital, social inclusion, privacy and cultural values to name a few. These must be considered to pre-empt responsible deployment.
This project examined the potential that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have in enhancing Australia’s wellbeing, lifting the economy, improving environmental sustainability and creating a more equitable, inclusive and fair society. Placing society at the core of AI development, the report analyses the opportunities, challenges and prospects that AI technologies present, and explores considerations such as workforce, education, human rights and our regulatory environment.
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Thieves steal laptops with 30 years of data from University of Western Australia
Machines were "password-protected".
Thieves broke into the University of Western Australia and stole an undisclosed number of laptops containing “fragmented” student data stretching back 30 years.
The break-in and theft from an administrative building actually occurred “in late June” but was only publicly disclosed as a potential “data loss incident” on Saturday morning, around a month after it happened.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater said in an email to students that the laptops contained “fragmented data relating predominantly to people who applied to study at UWA between 1988 and January 2018” stored locally on the machines.
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13,000 NAB customers affected by data breach
Bank begins to contact customers after data sent erroneously sent to third parties
NAB has begun contacting some 13,000 of its customers revealing details of a data breach.
The bank said that a range of personal information including names, dates of birth, contact details and in some cases, the number of a government-issued ID document, such as a driver’s licence number, was erroneously uploaded to the servers of two “data service companies”.
NAB revealed details of the breach late on Friday.
The bank said the two companies have assured its security team that “all information provided to them is deleted within two hours”.
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Capital One: hacker gained access to personal information of over 100 million Americans
The incident also affected about 6 million people in Canada
Capital One Financial Corp said on Monday the personal information including names, addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth of about 100 million individuals in the United States were obtained by a hacker who has now been arrested.
The US credit card issuer said it identified the hack on July 19 and the individual responsible has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The incident is expected to cost between $100 million and $150 million in 2019, mainly due to customer notifications, credit monitoring and legal support, Capital One said.
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Telcos slammed for sleazy NBN sales
TIO says “small number” of telcos guilty of high-pressure telemarketing tactics
The use of high-pressure sales tactics by telcos trying to sell NBN services to households and small businesses has been condemned by groups representing consumers and the telecommunications industry.
Complaints body the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) today released a report highlighting misleading telemarketing of NBN products by some retail service providers (RSPs). The TIO said that in 2018 it received 1729 complaints about misleading conduct in which the consumer mentioned the NBN.
“Based on enquiries received by our office, a small number of retail service providers are increasing confusion for residential consumers and small businesses by using misleading telemarketing practices to sell their NBN plans,” the TIO report said.
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Thursday, 01 August 2019 11:25
TIO warns of 'misleading' NBN telemarketing
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman's latest report describes the misleading behaviour of "a small number of retail service providers" and explains what consumers and businesses can do to protect themselves.
Certain RSPs' in-house or external telemarketers are making some consumers and small businesses feel pressured into signing up for NBN plans.
Tactics include misleading the potential customer about who the telemarketer works for, suggesting that the consumer's current provider will not be able to supply NBN services, suggesting that customers will lose their services and phone number unless they immediately sign up, telling small businesses that the telemarketer's company "takes care of all registered businesses", and providing inaccurate or unclear information about the details of the plan being sold.
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NBN Co needs to double CVC inclusions, say ABB, Optus
By Ry Crozier on Aug 2, 2019 7:24AM
Streaming and cloud gaming drive up usage.
Aussie Broadband and Optus say the amount of bandwidth that comes bundled with NBN services needs to double to keep pace with customers’ data usage, and to keep congestion at bay.
In separate submissions to the NBN price review, the two retail service providers (RSPs) suggested traffic growth - particularly for streaming and ‘cloud gaming’ - would force the issue.
Most NBN services are currently sold with a minimum amount of bandwidth (connectivity virtual circuit, or CVC); 2Mbps of CVC with a 50Mbps service, and 2.5Mbps of CVC with a 100Mbps service.
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Battle between NBN and telcos gets ugly
Jul 31, 2019 — 8.00pm
Andy Penn is right. Telstra is not going to get much sympathy for its complaints. Just ask any customer.
But Telstra’s chief executive has a valid argument about the pricing of the NBN and the fact it has become a hindrance rather than a help to the expansion of a technology-led economy and even greater consumer benefits of high-speed broadband.
His argument is backed up by Rod Sims at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. In a speech to a regulatory conference on Wednesday night, Sims effectively said it was well past time for Canberra to get over the self-defeating fantasy that the government should expect to recoup the full $50 billion cost of the NBN.
“We must ignore those who worry about the value of assets that are sunk, and focus on how the NBN can best contribute to Australia,” he said.
That damning judgment is not only relevant to the price the government should accept when it finally gets around to selling the network in the future. It also affects the pricing model used by NBN Co right now to charge its wholesale customers.
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Path still open for InfraCo role in privatised NBN: Telstra CEO
Current wholesale pricing levels make selling NBN services “unprofitable” for Telstra, CEO claims
Telstra’s CEO Andy Penn has said there is still potential for the company's InfraCo business to take a stake in NBN Co if the government forges ahead with its privatisation.
In June 2018 when Telstra announced the establishment of InfraCo as part of its T22 strategy, the company said the creation of the new standalone business unit would “provide significant optionality for Telstra in the future for a potential demerger or the entry of a strategic investor” once the roll out of the National Broadband Network is completed.
Although there is no timeline for privatisation, it remains the government’s policy. Communications minister Paul Fletcher last month said that privatisation of NBN Co is still “some way away”. The minister also in June reemphasised that the government would not allow NBN Co to be owned by a vertically integrated telco such as Telstra.
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Who cares if NBN value is written down: Rod Sims
Jul 31, 2019 — 9.00pm
Competition regulator Rod Sims says a write-down of the National Broadband Network would be justified if it resulted in cheaper internet, weighing into an increasingly heated debate over the future of the $50 billion government-owned network.
In a speech delivered Wednesday night, the head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will urge decision makers to "ignore those who worry about the value of assets that are sunk, and focus on how the NBN can best contribute to Australia".
Clarifying his position to The Australian Financial Review, Mr Sims dismissed the argument that the NBN must recoup its costs, saying it "doesn't matter" if the best use of the NBN involved a write-down.
"With the NBN, the investment has already been made, so the issue now is how do we make the best use of the NBN. I'm not saying whether that requires a write-down – I don’t know all the details – but if the best way to use the NBN was in a way that it did not recover all you’d spent on it, then I would answer, who cares? You’ve spent the money," he said.
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NBN Co ponders changes to its contentious pricing structure
Stephen Bartholomeusz
Senior business columnist
July 30, 2019 — 11.51am
With the national broadband network rollout now into its final 12 months, NBN Co's review of its pricing and products provides an opportunity for it to finesse its much-maligned pricing structure.
The window for submissions from the retail service providers (RSPs) to the review closed on Monday. While only some of them have been made public at this stage, it is obvious they contain a common complaint and various suggestions for addressing it.
While some, and Telstra has been the most vociferous, have focused on NBN Co's wholesale prices and urged it to reduce them, others have zeroed in more on the structure of its pricing than on their level.
Given that NBN Co has no option but to generate a relatively modest return that keeps it off-budget for the federal government, the "solution" to the RSPs' complaints probably does lie more in the way it structures its options for RSPs than in their nominal pricing.
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Telstra-NBN row explodes over pricing
Jul 31, 2019 — 12.00am
Telstra boss Andy Penn and NBN Co chief executive Stephen Rue have clashed over the NBN, bringing to a head long-simmering tensions between the two giants of Australian telecommunications.
Mr Penn has called on NBN Co to slash its wholesale prices, warning the $50 billion network risks being stranded as customers and retailers abandon it for cheaper wireless alternatives.
His comments in a blog post on Tuesday come as Mr Rue vigorously defends NBN's pricing in an op-ed in The Australian Financial Review today.
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Telstra tells NBN Co to scrap CVC charges
Warns 'overage' charges will jack up broadband prices within three years.
Telstra is the latest internet provider to urge NBN Co to scrap the connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) construct, warning it is driving up prices and pushing consumers to look elsewhere for broadband.
CEO Andy Penn said in a blog post that retail providers like Telstra were being increasingly hit with CVC “overage” charges to service the customer bases they had, let alone customers they may acquire in the next couple of years.
CVC is a fee levied by NBN Co for offloading traffic from the NBN to the retail service provider’s network.
Vocus and Vodafone also want CVC scrapped. Aussie Broadband, meanwhile, has urged NBN Co to "reconsider" the construct.
NBN Co’s newer bundled plans come with a set amount of CVC per user per month; retail service providers can - and often do - buy more than that in order to maintain performance for users.
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Vocus adds its voice to telcos critical of NBN business model
- 12:00AM July 30, 2019
The chorus of disgruntled telcos asking for an end to NBN Co’s onerous wholesale prices is getting louder, with Vocus the latest to call for the current model to be ditched.
NBN Co is in talks with telcos on giving them a better deal on wholesale prices, but Vocus says in its submission the company needs to go back to square one on charges.
According to Vocus boss Kevin Russell, NBN Co is exploiting its monopoly position to support its own financial requirements rather than the needs of consumers.
“To make broadband affordable for consumers, NBN needs to abolish the CVC download tax, offer four flat-rate speed tiers, and kill the complexity in its pricing model. Consumers are paying an indirect tax for broadband in the form of CVC.”
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Aussie Broadband backs half-price NBN for 'disadvantaged' users
As well as more competitive products above 100Mbps.
Aussie Broadband is urging NBN Co to create a “half-price” product for disadvantaged users, while also providing more compelling options for users whose lines - and budgets - support going above 100Mbps.
In a wide-ranging submission to the NBN wholesale price review obtained by iTnews, the retail service provider proposed several changes that could increase take-up of NBN services.
Aussie Broadband joined the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) in calling for a cut-price service for a subset of price-sensitive users.
ACCAN is asking for a 50Mbps speeds priced at $20 wholesale and $30 retail for households receiving government assistance.
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Rethink pricing or the NBN is worthless, Penn warns
- 12:00AM July 29, 2019
The call from Telstra chief executive Andy Penn for the government to rethink its position on the NBN and its high wholesale pricing is getting louder.
If it does not, he warns, the major telcos will not be able to make enough return on capital, vital investment will fall, customers will lose out and the NBN could even be rendered worthless.
The profits of Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, TPG and others have been squeezed by the NBN’s point-blank refusal to lower wholesale prices. Last week new Communications Minister Paul Fletcher ruled out any change.
Speaking just ahead of his annual results blackout, Penn is firing back.
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NBN could become 'worthless'
Telstra CEO Andy Penn has warned the NBN could become "worthless" as retailers consider other technologies.
Speaking to Sky News business host Ticky Fullerton, Mr Penn said the high cost of the NBN wholesale price risked driving providers to 5G.
"Basically, all operators are losing money selling the NBN. And so of course some – and they've said as much publicly – are looking at 5G to bypass the NBN. And I don't think that's necessarily a good thing when it doesn't deliver the right technology for the customer," he said.
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Enjoy!
David.
