Terria Access Seekers Association, formerly known as G9, was a consortium of Australian

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...

s that in 2006 formed a consortium to bid for the right to build the proposed

National Broadband Network The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network. It includes wired and radio communication components rolled out and operated by NBN Co, a Government-owned corporation. Internet service provide ...

. The companies involved were Internode Systems,

iiNet iiNet Limited is an Australian internet service provider that sells NBN plans and services on its ULTRA Broadband Cable, FTTB and VDSL2 networks. It was acquired by TPG Telecom in July 2020. iiNet was acquired by TPG in September 2015 for $ ...

Macquarie Telecom Macquarie Telecom Group Limited ( ASX: MAQ) is an Australian cloud, data centre, government cyber security and telecom company, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth. It owns and operates five data centers in Sydney ...

Optus Singtel Optus Pty Limited (commonly referred to as Optus) is an Australian telecommunications company headquartered in Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singaporean telecommunications company Singte ...

and Primus. Absent from the list was

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

. Terria came about in response to a proposal from Telstra to build a Fibre to the node (FTTN) communications network around Australia. The consortium (which at the time comprised eight companies — iiNet was yet to join) responded that the new network would lock out all competitors and would only provide speeds that were achievable with the existing infrastructure. They proposed an alternate open network that with Telstra's participation would have covered a larger percentage of the population and allowed open competition for the same cost. Telstra refused, and apparently due to regulatory issues, abandoned their original plan. In December 2006, the group announced their intention to combine to invest in a Fibre To The Node network. They lodged a special access undertaking regarding pricing policy with the

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trad ...

(ACCC) in June 2007. In December 2007, the ACCC rejected the plan due to a lack of incentives for providers of the service to compete. In May 2008, the consortium, upon its rebranding to Terria, placed the 5 million dollar bond to take part in the tender process to develop the national broadband network promised by the

Rudd Government Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) * Rudd government (2013) {{Dab ... * Rudd gov ...

. On 2008-11-26, Optus Networks Investments lodged a bid to build the National Broadband Network, on behalf of the Terria consortium. On 7 April 2009, the Australian Government terminated the National Broadband Network tender, opting to instead build the network on its own. On 15 September 2009, it was announced that Terria would reform and put out the call for new members to join the fight in ensuring the government's $43 billion national broadband network becomes a reality.

Former partners

Powertel was an original member of the G9, but was acquired by AAPT – another original member - with the rebranding of the consortium to Terria reflecting that change. AAPT itself subsequently left the consortium on 16 October 2008 to become an independent voice on the network build. On 24 October,

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

also chose to leave the consortium. Terria's chairman, Michael Egan, claimed that Soul had not been an active participant in the consortium since its merger with TPG. On 27 October,

TransACT TransACT is the trading name of TransACT Capital Communications, an Australian telecommunications company based in Canberra which provides broadband internet access, fixed telephony, cable television services, and mobile phone services in Can ...

announced their departure from the consortium, citing their focus on their own individual bid to build the National Broadband Network within the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

and possible conflict of interest should they win with their own bid. In light of the series of departures, the CEOs of the remaining five members of the consortium reiterated their support for Terria.

References

External links

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Fair Go Broadband
* {{cite web, url=http://whirlpool.net.au/article-past.cfm?q=FTTN, title=FTTN news articles on Whirlpool Telecommunications in Australia Technology consortia