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VIRTUALISATION Government foreshadows major telecoms regulation reform
VIRTUALISATION Government foreshadows major telecoms regulation reform | Government foreshadows major telecoms regulation reform |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Tuesday, 07 April 2009 | |
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The last major change occurred in 1997 when the restrictions on the number of fixed and mobile network operators was scrapped and telecommunications competition regulation brought within the Trade Practices Act, albeit through a series of new telecoms-specific sections. It has been widely recognised that this competition regime has been subject to a huge amount of gaming and that its administration has soaked up enormous resources in both the telcos and the regulator, the ACCC. It has also been the contention of large sectors of the industry, other than Telstra, that the only viable solution is to functionally or structurally separate Telstra thereby removing its incentive to game the regulations to try and advantage its own retail operations over those of its competitors that need to make use of its networks and facilities. Much of the controversy, and difficulty, has centred around the negotiate-arbitrate regime under which other telcos gain access, primarily, to Telstra's network. The Government is considering replacing this with a new regime under which the ACCC would have power to set price and non-price terms and condition for access. The proposed reforms also include a strengthening of current rules exempting licensed telecommunications carriers from local planning rules when rolling out networks, in order to speed up deployment o of the planned FTTH network.
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