Telstra lodges revised separation undertaking

Stuart Corner
Friday, 09 December 2011 10:33

IT Policy - Regulation

Telstra has lodged a revised structural separation undertaking (SSU) with the ACCC, saying that it incorporates a number of important changes in response to concerns about the first version raised by the ACCC and the industry but that these are not sufficiently material to negate the shareholder approval of its definitive agreements with NBN Co and the Government. The ACCC has responded saying that issues remain around wholesale ADSL services, which it will address separately, but if these can be resolved, it is inclined to accept the undertaking.

ACCC chairman, Rod Sims, said: "Provided that the outstanding concerns around wholesale ADSL can be quickly resolved, the ACCC is otherwise minded to accept the undertaking, subject to any new issues of real substance or drafting matters arising in the course of this final round of consultation."

Sims welcomed the changes Telstra had made to the SSU but said: "It has become apparent through this and other processes that there are outstanding regulatory concerns in relation to wholesale ADSL services. The ACCC is now giving urgent consideration to initiating a public inquiry into declaration of wholesale ADSL under Part XIC of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

"In addition, the ACCC will shortly be finalising its inquiry into varying the exemption provisions in the final access determinations for the Wholesale Line Rental (WLR), Local Call Service (LCS) and Public Switched Telephone Network Originating Access (PSTN OA) services."

The Competitive Carriers' Coalition (CCC) - which has been one of the most strident critics of the original SSU - welcomed the ACCC's announcement saying it would "bring certainty to the regulation of prices for crucial Telstra wholesale services, represents an important step forward, and takes off the table vital sticking points in Telstra's structural separation plan."

It reserved judgement on the changes to the SSU but was critical of the window for consultation set by the ACCC and Telstra.

There was an initial deadline of 20 December for the ACCC to approve the SSU as one of the conditions precedent for the definitive agreements but Telstra said this had been extended "To provide sufficient time for the ACCC deliberation and consultation processes to occur, as well as for certain Government processes such as NBN Co shareholder approval to be completed."

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