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Telecommunications Carriers again unleash ACCC against Telstra over ULL access
Telecommunications Carriers again unleash ACCC against Telstra over ULL access | Carriers again unleash ACCC against Telstra over ULL access |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Wednesday, 09 July 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 2 Taking a dispute to the ACCC is considered a last resort when carriers cannot reach agreement. The commission's decisions are intended to be final.For example, the Primus dispute mentioned above is a essentially a replay of previous events. Telstra was charging $30 per month for ULLS, Primus notified the ACCC of a dispute, and the final determination was $14.30 per month. The determination was backdated to 3 February 2006 and expired on 30 June 2008, just six months after it was made. At the time, ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said "The published determinations will provide clear guidance on what the ACCC considers to be the reasonable terms of access to the ULLS". That guidance hasn't prevented the parties returning for another round. Such disputes provide ammunition for those favouring the functional separation of Telstra into wholesale and retail operations. Such an arrangement would provide a level playing field for Telstra's retail operation and its competitors. The UK communications regulator Ofcom recently praised the 2005 functional separation of BT referring to it as a success, and even BT's CEO Ian Livingston has spoken favourably of the arrangement, implicitly criticising attempts by Telstra to use BT as an example of what is wrong with separation. In New Zealand the jury is still out as to the benefits of the functional separation of Telecom NZ on 31 March 2008.
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