Vodafone Group Plc (ADR)(NASDAQ:VOD) Australia has spoken out over its refusal to collocate under the federal government’s mobile blackspots program. The carrier says that it would have wished to take up 100 Telstra Corporation Ltd (OTCMKTS:TLSYY)’s base stations. However, it points out at cost and technical barriers as imminent challenges. Apparently, the company had submitted its expressions of interest to collocate and only pulled out of the program after negotiations with Telstra.
Vodafone also pointed to Telstra’s persistence for standard collocation pricing despite having received substantial subsidies of close to 50% of capital costs. The company’s negotiation of a specification for collocation space on its towers was said not to be within the spirit and letter of the program’s guidelines.
But Telstra says Vodafone’s complaints are not based on fact
Speaking to ZDNet, a Telstra spokesperson referred to Vodafone’s concerns as inaccurate citing that it offered sufficient space on its towers and at a lower price. The Telco explains that its aim is to collocate a large number of its competitor’s blackspot sites because it is committed to improving communications in rural and regional Australia.
“We offered all mobile network operators the ability to put their equipment on our mobile blackspot towers at lower than normal collocation costs,” Telstra explained.
Rampant market competition
Apparently, the government doesn’t seem bothered by Vodafone’s protests perhaps because the market is so full of competition. One of the many competitors, Optus, has shown interest in collocating close to 19 of Telstra’s round one mobile blackspot base stations.
The company has also been in intense discussions with other carriers while seeking collocation agreements. Surprisingly Vodafone will also be establishing collaboration with Optus and will be sharing out close to a half of its sites under round one of the program.
Meanwhile, the government has been building several provisions, which are meant to encourage collocation into its funding agreements. On the other hand, the Department of Communications points out that despite all these complaints, none of the carriers has turned to dispute resolution mechanism system.
In the meantime, Vodafone’s stock closed at was at $29.91 witnessing an increase of $0.28 or 0.94%. Telstra’s stock was trading at $16.74 a fall of $0.13 or 0.77%