Telstra calls halt to copper lines

Developers have warned that thousands of new houses will take longer to come onto the market, and will cost up to $3000 more, because of Telstra's decision to stop installing copper phone lines.

Telstra has told developers it has stopped installing copper phone connections in greenfields developments because of a federal government requirement for fibre-optic cable in new housing from July 1, Fairfax newspapers say.

Stephen Albin of the Urban Development Institute of Australia says the decision last Thursday has caught many developers by surprise and will cause long delays in selling homes, exacerbating the housing shortage.

He says developers will not be able to get certificates to satisfy councils that telephone services have been installed. Without the certificates, developers cannot sell the properties.

Mr Albin says he expects the decision by Telstra to affect "scores of developers" and "thousands" of homes.

Fibre-optic cable will provide a better service, but Mr Albin says many companies were in the midst of negotiating the installation of copper when Telstra announced its decision.

He says Telstra should have provided a transition period until July 1 so companies would not be forced to begin new rounds of negotiations with Telstra or other providers to install communications and find the money to cover the extra costs. Some companies had been told these costs would be about $3000. The costs will be levied only on greenfield sites. They will be met by the National Broadband Network in existing urban areas.