Carriers demand telecom reform pledge

James Riley
Tuesday, 03 August 2010 18:41

IT Policy - Regulation

As election nervousness creeps into the telecommunications sector, the industry's peak lobby has called for all parties to commit to fundamental regulatory reforms to improve market competition and consumer outcomes.

The Competitive Carriers Coalition says there is "universal acceptance" in the industry and beyond of the need for changes to communications policy and the regulatory regime that governs it.

Parts of the sector are known to have become increasingly nervous about the outcome of the election, with the fate of long-awaited regulatory reforms hanging in balance.

With Tony Abbott already telegraphing plans to halt construction of the national broadband network, there is industry concern about the Opposition's commitments to reforming the industry - and shadow communications spokesman Tony Smith has said nothing to dispel those concerns.

The CCC wants all parties to commit to implementing four fundamental policy pillars, regardless of the outcome of the industry.

First, Telstra's wholesale and retail businesses must be effectively separated. At a minimum this would mean Telstra's retail businesses had to buy access to the Telstra wholesale business on the same price, terms and conditions as everyone else - and use the same IT ordering and management systems as the rest of the industry.

Secondly, the CCC wants an acknowlegement that regulatory changes without this structural reforms is not adequate.

Third, any fibre access network must be structurally separated from any retail service provider. Finally, reforms must address issues of content and practices of anticompetitive bundling.

"We are calling on all parties now to accept the need for structural reform as the basis of any future regulatory model regardless of the election outcome," the CCC said in a statement.

"It would be tragic for Australian consumers if this opportunity for fundamental reform was lost."