At OpenNet’s first press conference since the Government took issue with its performance in rolling out of the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN), the consortium pointed fingers at several other parties, including its key sub-contractor SingTel.
It also partly attributed the delay of the roll-out to the fact that the NGNBN Internet Service Providers (ISPs) – there were eight as of last year, including M1 and StarHub – withheld information such as the projected subscriber numbers and the periods when subscription rates were expected to be high – making it a “challenge” for OpenNet to ramp up its manpower accordingly to meet the demand, its chief executive Khoo Chin Hean said yesterday.
Mr Khoo also revealed that OpenNet has an ongoing dispute with SingTel, which had affected “some aspects of its performance”. But he declined to elaborate beyond stating that the dispute was caused by different interpretations of the contract.
When asked by Today if OpenNet should take some of the responsibility for the delay, Mr Khoo would only say: “OpenNet takes responsibility for its roll-out of NGNBN fibre network. From experience gained in the last 18 months, OpenNet is focusing on improving its service and completing its roll-out as scheduled.”
OpenNet was given a target of wiring up 95 per cent of the country for the NGNBN network by the middle of this year. The consortium said yesterday that it has hit about 90 per cent and will be pulling out all the stops to reach the target by July.
Asked about a lawsuit that OpenNet had reportedly initiated against the Government, Mr Khoo declined to comment on what it is about. However, he said that it was not linked to the problems with the roll-out – namely activation capacity and installation quotas.
In February, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) expressed concern over operational issues including the excessive waiting time for activation of fibre services, unsatisfactory response to increasing demand, delays in installations in commercial buildings and unreasonable pricing.
At the press conference yesterday, OpenNet reiterated that it has taken steps to rectify the issues. For instance, it is planning to give financial incentives to encourage greater take up rate in the non-residential segment.
ISPs defend actions
Responding to Today’s queries on its dispute with OpenNet, a SingTel spokesman would only point out that its infrastructure and experience was “instrumental” in enabling OpenNet to fulfill its roll-out. He added: “For the roll-out, OpenNet utilises part of SingTel’s existing infrastructure, comprising ducts, manholes and exchanges. The use of SingTel’s infrastructure significantly minimised costs and disruption to the community.”
SingTel had also “proactively” offered additional appointment slots to assist OpenNet during demand spikes, the spokesman said.
Earlier this year, OpenNet had rejected M1’s offer to be a contractor to ease the delays and had stayed silent on StarHub’s offer.
OpenNet’s Mr Khoo said yesterday that its contractual relationship with SingTel might be “damaged” if the consortium engaged more contractors to build and activate the NGNBN network.
Mr Khoo reiterated that it is up to SingTel to hire its own sub-contractors, if necessary.
When contacted, the ISPs defended their actions – the fact that they had withheld the information should not be an excuse for OpenNet for not being able to project demand.
StarHub head of corporate communications and investor relations Jeannie Ong said, “As commercial entities, broadband service providers must anticipate customer demand and manage their resources to cope with different patterns of demand, so that customers can receive services in a timely manner.”
An M1 spokesman said that it had “given numerous feedback in the past to both OpenNet and IDA on the insufficient slots and slow service activations”. He added that OpenNet should be in a “good position” to determine demand after being in operations for 20 months.
Another ISP, ViewQwest, pointed out that it is difficult – for both the ISPs as well as for OpenNet – to project the number of subscribers for a network that is still in its infancy. ViewQwest CEO Vignesa Moorthy added: “We would also have issues in divulging commercially sensitive information to a third party.”
On OpenNet’s reasons for not appointing additional sub-contractors, StarHub’s Ms Ong said: “Our view is that OpenNet must either ensure its key sub-contractor pays sufficient resource and attention to resolve the service provisioning issues, or directly appoint other sub-contractors to ease the problems at hand.”
SingTel’s NGNBN role under spotlight again
by Tan Weizhen
SingTel’s role as OpenNet’s key subcontractor to build and activate the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN) was questioned again yesterday, this time by rival telcos.
Expressing a sentiment shared by other Internet Service Providers (ISPs), StarHub head of corporate communications & investor relations Jeannie Ong said: “It is interesting to note that SingTel, as OpenNet’s key subcontractor, may be in a position of commercial conflict.
“They have the majority of market share in the non-residential segment, serviced through their own fibre rather than the NGNBN. Factually, SingTel’s own fibre infrastructure in the non-residential segment competes with the NGNBN infrastructure.”
Earlier this year, OpenNet shareholder Axia NetMedia also reportedly questioned SingTel’s role. Among other things, it said that SingTel cannot be neutral because it is a major ISP which competes in the market with all other ISPs.
OpenNet CEO Khoo Chin Hean explained yesterday that the “intricately connected” system may not provide an ideal backdrop for contractors that are not linked to SingTel – there is also the question of who would take responsibility when things go wrong, he added.
When asked to comment on the potential conflict of interest, SingTel did not give a direct response. OpenNet is owned by SingTel, Axia, Singapore Press Holdings and SP Telecommunications.
Tan Weizhen
Source: Today – 9 May 2012
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