Govt gets NBN plan today

GOVERNMENT will today receive a business plan which will guide the formation of the National Broadcasting Network’s (NBN) successor company and “old NBN” will soldier on for the time being. This was disclosed by Public Administration and Information Minis-ter, Dr Lenny Saith, when he addressed yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall.

Dr Saith said British Broadcasting Corporation Technology (hired by Government to develop a business plan for the new company), has completed its work and will submit a report today to him and Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Christine Sahadeo. The Minister said the report will be studied and then brought to Cabinet for approval. Saith added that another consultancy firm hired to assess equipment required by the new company has already submitted its report to Government.

Saith said negotiations between NBN and its staff for a voluntary severance package will be heard in the Industrial Court from July 19 to 23. He expressed optimism that an agreement on that package would be reached either bilaterally or through the court. The Minister explained that NBN’s closure date and the new company’s start-up date was “predicated on when we can come to an agreement.” Saith said Government was ensuring that all the necessary technical work for the new company is done in the interim. He added that while there was no new name for the new company, it would not be called “new NBN.”

The Minister said once the revised Telecommunications Amendment Bill 2004 is passed in the Senate next Tuesday, it would “trigger a number of activities” including proposals for cellular service and international services. He stated that the Telecommunications Authority was taking shape and the regulations it will establish to govern the sector will stand up to both public and legal scrutiny. Saith also said an important function of the new $80 million, four-storey Government Information Service headquarters in St Clair would be facilities whereby the public could access the nation’s historical archives.