Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Communications minister, senator Helen Coonan, has announced several initiatives which she claims will ensure more consultation and better information about any plans Telstra may have to remove payphones from a community.
Coonan said: "While Telstra should be free to make commercial decisions relating to the location of its payphones, the Government is committed to ensuring that Telstra continues to meet its obligations under the Universal Service Obligation (USO)."
Telstra has announced plans to remove up to 5000 payphones. Coonan said she was "satisfied that Telstra's plans to rationalise its payphones [do] not propose the removal of any USO payphones," but "the Government considers that improvements can be made in how Telstra meets its USO obligation".
The Government says it will require Telstra to amend its standard marketing plan to give a clearer description of what constitutes having reasonable access to a payphone and include a description of what constitutes a USO payphone.
Telstra will also be required to more clearly identify which payphones in a community are provided under the USO and to ensure there are robust consultation processes where a non-USO payphone is to be removed or relocated.
It is not possible at present to identify from any public information available from Telstra which payphones it regards as being subsidised under the USO. See this iTWire comment item. This wil change.
"Telstra will be required to incorporate into its website payphone locator - www.telstra.com.au/payphoneservice - a USO payphone icon so communities of less than 50,000 people will be able to identify the USO payphones in their area," Senator Coonan said.
"In addition I have required Telstra to enhance its consultation processes for the removal of payphones by including on its removal notice the reasons why Telstra intends to remove a payphone and details on how a person can object to the proposed removal," she said.
The Government will also require Telstra to work with the Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts and ACMA to ensure that all public information on its website and brochures clearly sets out these new obligations.
"ACMA will take a more active role in monitoring Telstra's compliance with its payphone obligations and will enhance its payphone-related complaints and awareness raising activities so consumers can more effectively participate in payphone issues," Coonan said.
David Bass
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