SYDNEY: THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has suggested a cut down in the price of copper network, which is being used by other telecom operators. The suggestion was made while keeping in view the current demand for fixed-line services as the national broadband network (NBN) which is going on decreasing.
ACCC proposed 0.7 percent reduction for the period from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2019. Telstra is seeking a 7.2 per cent increase.
“There are two conceptual underpinnings to this decision,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said on Wednesday.
“First, Telstra will no longer bear all the costs of declining consumer demand for fixed-line services.
“Second, however, access seekers will only pay for the assets needed to supply them, and not for any under-utilisation caused by the NBN,” Mr Sims said.
Telstra noted that the ACCC had made a draft decision and that the consumer watchdog was still considering information ahead of a final decision at the end of June 2015.
Telstra’s executive director of regulatory affairs, Jane van Beelen, said Telstra should have the opportunity to recover its actual costs fairly across all users of the copper network.
“We are still reviewing the (ACCC) document, but it is disappointing the ACCC is proposing to remove infrastructure costs from the asset base as a result of the NBN, which will prevent recovery of costs fairly across all users of our network,” Ms van Beelen said.
“NBN Co has not compensated Telstra for these costs.”
Optus said the ACCC’s draft decision was a good starting point.
“But we think there’s a case for further prices reductions,” the company said.
Optus said Australia has some of the highest access prices internationally and one of the world’s most dominant and profitable incumbents.
Lower prices were also consistent with trends in the Australian market.
The ACCC said it had several issues to consider before making a final decision, including whether to make an additional adjustment for the effect of the NBN.
