Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 15 October 2008 09:48
IT Policy -
Government Tech Policy
Page 1 of 2
In its first report the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee (RTIRC) has recommended major changes to government policy to improve communications services in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia.
These would include a radical overhaul of the universal service obligation and its expansion to cover a much wider range of services. The committee also recommends that the government mandate inter-carrier roaming between mobile network operators in areas where there is only one network - so as to give consumers a choice of supplier.
The committee was established as part of the legislative changes preceding the sale of the third tranche of Telstra in 2005. Its creation was in response to the 2002 Regional Telecommunications Inquiry which recommended regular reviews of telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote Australia to ensure that services are 'available equitably across Australia'.
The committee's terms of reference are set down in the legislation and essentially require it to "review of the adequacy of telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia" and in particular to consider whether such people "have equitable access to telecommunications services that are significant to people in those parts of Australia and currently available in one or more parts of urban Australia."
In making any recommendations that call for government action it must "assess the costs and benefits of that action." However no such cost benefit analyses have been included in
the report.
It was tabled in Parliament on 15 October by communications minister, Stephen Conroy. He declined to comment on its findings but promised a response by 5 March 2009.
The Committee held public consultations in 20 locations across regional Australia, as well as stakeholder meetings in all state and territory capitals and received more than 220 submissions.
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