Government Technology 2pages

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12th November 2009

Gary Looney Box 191. Menindee. NSW. 2879

Dear Mr. Steven Conroy (Australian Telecommunications Minister) I am currently studying Internet Technology at TAFE and have not got internet at home, which limits my ability to complete homework assignments and contribute with self education or practical application outside the classroom. The Government is pushing a new age of internet in Australia and we still treat internet like a toy or leisure luxury, this creates a serious inequality for specific location and individuals of low wealth, separating our country and its people from the remaining planet. Access & Education is needed. Take away Australia’s mineral resources and the economy is unequipped to trade internationally in small business, we have no safety net and are complacent to the off stemmed wealth, from this mammoth industry in terms of population. Our scattered population is a problem but Internet is a trading tool, were the customer pool is boundless globally, were specialty items or services can be supplied to a specific demographic area directly by an individual. But the global internet community continues to take leaps ahead in web design and services that require the standard pricing per Gig and speeds of their location. Not ours! I experienced reliability problems with satellite. The service level consistently reflected the minimum allowable under ABG guidelines, rules and obligations. I am expected to accept frequent dropouts and intermittent speed fluctuations of a service that does not fall outside of ABG standards, whilst paying top dollar for it. Two bean cans and a string would pass ABG! Previously, Telstra demonstrated their power to control me rather than admit the truth; existing employees who executed Telstra’s demands through CEO’s office secretary, to front of house staff and the local repair men were involved in a cover-up of errors, directly or through silence. After experiencing Telstra’s treatment of me and the actions of individuals employed by the company, I believe spiteful stand over behavior would occur again. I genuinely fear Telstra, and should. A Release & Indemnity was signed under duress and Telstra held the monopoly of service provision, my only option was to sign a degrading erroneous document. I told Telstra, the Government and the TIO that the document was erroneous, but all sat back and watched as I had no choice other than to sign it. I refuse to deal with the CEO office secretary or any Area/State managers. If the monopolies of stand over behavior, price control and service area equality cannot be fixed, we will be held in the stone ages as Australian resource revenues per population reduces, and the drier climate reshapes productivity zones. It disgusted me when labor recently said, new players are spreading to offer choice and eliminate the service monopoly, maybe in their outback suburb? Not here they are not, for both fixed line and mobile I have the choice of Telstra or nothing, and so have many other Australians. If Telstra and Government cannot be trusted, not to use the line monopoly against me, why should they be allowed to keep it? Telstra’s reputation is deservedly shit with unpracticed words & immoral actions. I would require a personal Guarantee directly from Telstra’s CEO that this would not occur and a free pre connection test of the lines suitability for ADSL to the wall plug, after which the provider of my choice within the limitations of Telstra cabling be allowed to immediately provide my service. I suspect rather than just fulfilling my request, Telstra would want to control the situation. It’s not happening; it is my way or no way. The past behavior was immoral, it deserves no respect but the truth does. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s office is also an untrustworthy sham! To: Steven Conroy and please pass it on to Telstra’s CEO Signed: Gary Looney

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12th November 2009

Gary Looney Box 191. Menindee. NSW. 2879

How did all this happen? I connected ISDN with Telstra; ISDN has 4 wall sockets, two of which I now know were suitable for connection of either Internet or auxiliary such as fax. So you have two inputs as part of the installation service provision and product description. The installer did not properly label the sockets or explain the functions; he made a very minor mistake that anybody could make. The wiring on the computer socket started “shorting? Or that of loose connection?” almost immediately after the technician had left leaving me no internet connection. I phoned him but he said it was up to me to ring Telstra and after several calls and weeks no one showed. I asked a Telstra technician near our town’s public phone if he was here to fix my connection. He said no, but latter dropped in to my residence on his way home and helped me by phoning the original installer and talking through the installation. The visiting technician than hung up and removed the computer plug from its existing socket and reinserted it in the adjacent ISDN wall socket. Many months after there was no official acceptance or repair of the remaining non functional wall socket and two men from Telstra, a Technician and his boss arrived and said they were going to fix the problem. The technician repaired the wiring in the wall socket and included function labels, replaced my modem and his boss handed me a surge protection board that was meant to be included as part of the initial installation. But on the worksheet description of tasks performed I noticed there was no account of the wall socket repair, when I raised this I was told a letter would be sent to Telstra explaining the faulty socket but it never was. This final blatant act of immoral behavior was too much for me. Telstra’s Secretary to the CEO called me a liar and claimed I made the above all up and forced me to sign an erroneous, self serving Release and Indemnity that degraded me. Through endless correspondence with Government and the TIO they were also of the opinion that the above did not occur.

To: Steven Conroy and please pass it on to Telstra’s CEO Signed: Gary Looney