A major beneficiary of the Federal Government's decision to extend its broadband tender bid deadline believes the delay will not prevent a winner being selected by the end of the year.
The Government has seemingly acknowledged the weeks of persistent criticism from one likely bidder, Terria, formerly known as G9, about the brevity of the tender period by yesterday scrapping the July 25 deadline for bids for the subsidised national broadband network.
The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said prospective bidders would be allowed 12 weeks to study detailed information about the nation's present telecommunications infrastructure, such as the location and capacity of telephone exchange and cables, before submitting complete plans for a fibre-to-the-node network.
But the 12-week period will not begin until all bidders have access to that infrastructure information, which the Government can legally request as soon as recently passed legislation is formally enacted by the Governor-General.
Even if that period was to start today, tendering would be a month behind its original schedule.
Michael Simmons, the bid manager for the Terria consortium, said the extension would go some way to ensuring a "level playing field for all bidders", a reference to Telstra's already possessing the network information it needs to bid for the tender.
"Although timeframes are still very tight, this will have no impact on the final build-out timetable nor indeed the Government's desire to make a decision by the end of the year," he said.
"It will, however, lead to a significantly better quality outcome."
Terria's complaints about the quality of network information provided voluntarily by Telstra a fortnight ago were given credence by the Minister yesterday.
"Telstra has provided some network information, however, despite its best efforts some information is not yet available," Senator Conroy said.
It is believed the Government is largely satisfied with Telstra's information for metropolitan areas but wants more detailed information about rural and regional areas, which would be necessary for a network to reach 98pc of the population.
The extension of the formal bid deadline will have no impact on today's deadline for the refundable $5 million bonds, which prospective bidders must hand over to get access to the network information and later be considered for the project.
The research director at Ovum, David Kennedy, said he believed the extension would improve the quality of bids for the $4.7 billion public funding.
"The network will take about four years to build and it will be used for decades," he said.
"A few extra weeks to ensure the process is genuinely competitive are well worth any additional delay."
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