SYDNEY: The ACCC has released its draft decision on prices access seekers will pay to use Telstra’s copper network on the road to the NBN. It is not exactly what Telstra was hoping for.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) decision calls for a one-off uniform fall in access prices of 0.7% for Telstra’s seven access services, compared to the one-off price increase of 7.2% that Telstra sought in October 2014. The draft decision covers the period 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2019.
Most of Telstra’s competitors savaged the 7.2% demand as a blatant grab for money, arguing that Telstra is already being handsomely compensated for how the NBN is changing the way it does business. It seems the ACCC now agrees.
The decision will mean hundreds of millions of dollars less for Telstra, and according to the ACCC will lead to lower telecommunications prices for Australian consumers, as the NBN replaces Telstra’s legacy network as the infrastructure over which Australians receive fixed line voice and broadband communications.
“This structural change has significant implications for how Telstra’s fixed line assets are used during the transition and for the issues that the ACCC has dealt with during its inquiry to date,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
“The draft decision on prices ensures nominal price stability in the wholesale market for telecommunications services and will promote competition in the transition to the NBN. Given current inflation however, this uniform price fall means the prices access seekers pay will decline in real terms over the next four years by around 12%.”
Telstra is, predictably, less than impressed with the ACCC’s decision. Jane van Beelen, Telstra’s executive director of regulatory affairs, said: “We are still reviewing the 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. NBN Co has not compensated Telstra for these costs.”
But it is still a draft decision. The ACCC is inviting stakeholder views on the primary price terms to be included in the final access determinations for the next regulatory period, including reasons for those views. Submissions are due by 30 April, with the ACCC intending to release its final decision at the end of June.
