The recent requirement by the Australian government for telecommunications companies to release data about their infrastructure to bidders for the new government FTTN (fiber to the node) network may have unexpected costs to Australian tax payers. The legislation calls for voluntary submission of the data. The data will be going to both the government and bidders on the FTTN spectrum for the national broadband initiative.

Telstra and other companies have raised concerns about national security arising from the data being public knowledge. Now another unpleasant repercussion has reared its ugly head. According to government representatives from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, legislatively compelling companies to disclose intellectual property could result in compensation claims.

What does that mean to the average Australian? It means that the tax payers may end up footing the bill for this massive exchange of data in more ways than a national security issue. The telecommunications companies could bill the government for the immense potential cost of gathering and distributing the data.

Of course Telstra, not known for strength in customer relations, was all over that information immediately, saying:

“We’re glad the Government has recognised that providing this information may cause losses because this demand could have serious commercial consequences.”

The purpose of the data release is to encourage bidding on building the national data network proposed by the Labor party, making it easier for bidders to plan how they would tie in to add to any existing infrastructure. The government has promised “strict confidentiality controls”, but didn’t give details on how these controls would be implemented or what scope they had, leaving the national security question wide open.
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