Last week the government in Australia announced that it was seeking proposals to build an $8.8 billion nationwide broadband network. Australian telcos have expressed some concerns that the bidding process is heavily biased in favor of Telstra, the nation’s dominant telco which was previously owned by the government. Telstra is exacerbating those concerns by making media statements that the company does expect to be the one that will win the proposal. In response, telcos are coming together to draft letters to the minister about the issue citing their major concerns as being that it will encourage a monopoly in the industry and disadvantage other telcos due to the lack of public scrutiny surrounding the issue. The Australian government assures the telcos that their interest is in moving Australia forward in the global broadband race and that they’ll be reviewing all proposals fairly.