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Construction needs cloud flexibility
Australia’s embattled construction sector could benefit from cloud based information systems that can be switched on and off in lockstep with individual projects – with the exception of those organisations based in remote areas like the Kimberleys.
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ACCC delivers another blow to Telstra
Stuart Corner
Monday, 11 September 2006 19:35
Telstra had proposed reducing the LCS charge from 13.61 cents per call to 9.28 cents and increasing the PSTN OTA charge from one cent per minute to 2.18 cents immediately and to 2.28 cents in July 2007 for non-preselected carriers and for preselected carriers increasing the originating access charge from one cent to 1.19 cents per minute and to 1.24 cents in July 2007. For this latter service it also proposed levying a $1.44 per month charge per customer, rising to $1.48 in July 2007
PSTN originating and terminating access services are used by carriers that operate their own switches to enable them to receive calls from customers and to deliver calls to dialled PSTN numbers. The local carriage service is used by Telstra's competitors to provide local calls to their customers. It allows competitive entrants to resell local calls without deploying substantial alternative infrastructure.
The ACCC's decision takes the form of a draft decision to reject Telstra's access undertakings for these services. The ACCC concluded that the prices proposed in the undertakings would mean a substantial reduction in the headline LCS prices and a substantial increase in the headline PSTN OTA prices, and it said that these proposed prices were not reasonable.
ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel said that Telstra's proposed prices would "represent a fundamental rebalancing of the competitive dynamics in the fixed line services markets, with a doubling of the headline rate for PSTN services.
"Telstra's proposed pricing would significantly disadvantage facilities based access seekers, while providing an advantage to resellers of Telstra's end-to-end local call services," according to Samuel.
The ACCC said that, on the basis of the information available, it was not satisfied that Telstra's proposed charges were based on reasonable estimates of efficient costs." The ACCC seeks submissions by interested parties on its draft view by no later than 29 September 2006. Telstra lodged the undertakings on 22 March 2006
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