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NSW rural communities set up companies to take on Telstra
5 Aug 2002
Two New South Wales regional communities have set up their own companies to compete with Telstra, in a telecommunications equivalent of the community-banking backlash. On the south coast, the Southern Phone Company will start offering long-distance services in October and says it will halve Telstra's prices. SPC's services will also be available to users in Sydney, and it plans to offer international calls and will have a data access division supplying teleconferencing to regional businesses, schools, hospitals and government departments. Its company charter stipulates that profits be returned through lower prices to the community. The SPC project was conceived in 1997 and is headed by Phil Herrick, Eurobodalla Shire Council's economic development manager.
The second telco will be based in Wagga. Wagga City Council says that Telstra lowered its prices as soon as the council flagged its intention to set up a rival service. The council has signed a three-year agreement to supply Wagga and its surrounds with competitively-priced telecommunications services, naming its company the Bush Telegraph Telco.
The Daily Telegraph, 5/8/02, page 6.
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