Telstra seems to be doing it's darnest to scare away customers with its outrageous pricing plans for land line rentals. What I can't work out if this is deliberate or accidental - but I'm starting to think it's deliberate.
We've seen recent reports of people dropping Land Lines in favour of Cheap Mobiles and of VoIP using Broadband over Powerlines in TAS - all of which will eat into Telstra's bottom line. Why? Because if people choose Mobile over Land Lines, consumers go from a monopoly market to a very competative market - so many will NOT choose Telstra.
So what's the deal? Perhaps Telstra is trying to buy out of the Land Line market completely? Or at least put so much commercial pressure on it's existance that it forces the governments hand. Either way, I suspect more is at play than lousy business decisions.
Just an outlet of theories, predictions and other miscellanous rot from my (rather convoluted) brain...
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Proven - Telstra's Plans...
Unremarkably, Sol Trujillo today announced plans to Axe 12,000 Jobs - well, we said 14,000 and no-one believed us...
Worse is that Barnaby Joyce was shocked by the announcement. Sorry Barnaby - you surely can't be that stupid can you and not know that this would happen? It's going to be a private company you goose - what did you think would happen - they would expand?
So, what does that mean? Well, I'd say Countrywide is pretty well gone. In fact, I was talking to an ex-Telstra employee recently and they seemed to be saying as much. I just hope Barnaby isn't so surprised when it happens - make's him look pretty foolish.
Worse is that Barnaby Joyce was shocked by the announcement. Sorry Barnaby - you surely can't be that stupid can you and not know that this would happen? It's going to be a private company you goose - what did you think would happen - they would expand?
So, what does that mean? Well, I'd say Countrywide is pretty well gone. In fact, I was talking to an ex-Telstra employee recently and they seemed to be saying as much. I just hope Barnaby isn't so surprised when it happens - make's him look pretty foolish.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Supporting Commentary - Living Beyond Our Means...
On the Sunday program yesterday, we had the proverial "sky is falling" story, Safe As Houses, about the housing bubble about to burst (with some encouragement from Aussie John Symonds).
It was interesting to hear many of the comment (some from reputable people) that seemed to coincide with the concepts of Affluenza and/or Living Beyond our Means.
But isn't this the global panacea for growth? Complete unfetted, unabashed consumption and debt growth. I'm really keen to see the Right Wing hawks decend upon the show to pull it to pieces (I'm sure it'll be labelled as a left wing rag before too long) as the implied sentiment was that some form of regulation and control is needed.
Pity it'll never happen - so when it bursts, we'll just sti by and say "I told you so"...
It was interesting to hear many of the comment (some from reputable people) that seemed to coincide with the concepts of Affluenza and/or Living Beyond our Means.
But isn't this the global panacea for growth? Complete unfetted, unabashed consumption and debt growth. I'm really keen to see the Right Wing hawks decend upon the show to pull it to pieces (I'm sure it'll be labelled as a left wing rag before too long) as the implied sentiment was that some form of regulation and control is needed.
Pity it'll never happen - so when it bursts, we'll just sti by and say "I told you so"...
Prediction - Paris Riots - Our Turn Next?
For some time I've been pondering the future of the country (or any country) where we actively leave the "underclass" behind. It's evident in OZ today that unless you're skilled you're stuffed - but to get skilled you need money and the proverbial "chicken and egg" problems that result.
We see increasing moves to jail anyone that moves for trivial crime and we're increasingly hiding behind our elite "gated" communities so we can ignore the plight of others.
New Orleans was a classic for this - but it's equally true in Brisbane, Sydney and no doubt within other communities around the country (take Palm Island for example).
At some point, it has to crack - Maquarie Fields in Sydney and now of course, Paris.
So I'm waiting to see everyone claim Paris is just a French problem - please don't be so blind to see that it could (and probably will) happen here. Just let Johnnie get away with his IR changes and it might happen sooner than you think.
We see increasing moves to jail anyone that moves for trivial crime and we're increasingly hiding behind our elite "gated" communities so we can ignore the plight of others.
New Orleans was a classic for this - but it's equally true in Brisbane, Sydney and no doubt within other communities around the country (take Palm Island for example).
At some point, it has to crack - Maquarie Fields in Sydney and now of course, Paris.
So I'm waiting to see everyone claim Paris is just a French problem - please don't be so blind to see that it could (and probably will) happen here. Just let Johnnie get away with his IR changes and it might happen sooner than you think.