ACCC's role in evaluating broadband network proposals is indeed 'critical'

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 17 April 2008 12:55

Opinion and Analysis

The ACCC's role is set out in Section 10.4 of the RFP and, as Conroy said in his speech: this is a purely advisory role. "...the ACCC has a dual role. It will provide the [expert] panel with ongoing advice on a range of issues. This includes the nature of access services, pricing, proposed regulatory changes and the impact of proposals on competition. The ACCC will also provide a written report to the panel which will contain an individual and comparative assessment of proposals. Importantly, in conducting its assessment, the ACCC will be able to draw on all information it has legally available to it, including the range of information it has on costs and prices."

The government and the panel can choose to accept or ignore this advice. And what is more, we the general public may never know exactly what the ACCC recommended as there is no indication that this information will be made public.

This is in stark contrast to how the ACCC dealt with the G9 proposal for an FTTN last year. Under the provisions of the Trade Practices Act the G9 was required to lodge a special access undertaking, a public document. The ACCC then invited comment and in due course issued a public draft decision which again was open for comment in advance of a final decision. {That stage was never reached as the G9 withdrew the undertaking after the ACCC's provision rejection in its draft decision.)

This is a far cry from the ACCC's advisory role on responses to the NBN RFP. Telstra's competitors, through the Competitive Carriers Coalition, have called from the proposals for the NBN to be "subject to rigorous examination involving publication of the proposal, the publication of an opinion by the ACCC and then public submissions and a final public report."

CCC executive director, David Forman said: " Telstra has for two years wanted to do a secret deal with the Government, giving Australians no opportunity to scrutinise what it proposes until it has received approval..[and] has also said it will not invest unless it has a guarantee of monopoly profits and inflated prices for a generation. It the responsibility of the Government to ensure that this does not happen and ensuring public examination of proposals is the best guarantee that bad decisions are not made."

Unless the government changes its mind this public scrutiny will not occur. The situation could indeed become critical.