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The Government's Response to the Productivity Commision's Report into Telecommunications Competition Regulation
In June 2000, the Government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a review of the telecommunications-specific competition regulations in Parts XIB and XIC of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the competition provisions of the Telecommunications Act 1997. The Productivity Commission's report was released on 21 December 2001.
After careful consideration of the telecommunications-specific competition regime, including the recommendations of the Productivity Commission's report, on 24 April 2002, the Government announced on 24 April 2002, a range of measures that it would introduce to enhance the operation of the regime. These initiatives were aimed at increasing the level of competition and investment in the telecommunications market to the benefit of consumers and business.
The formal Government Response to Productivity Commission Report on the Review of Telecommunications Competition Regulation was released 4 March 2003.
On 19 December 2002 the Telecommunications Competition Act 2002 (the Act) came into effect. The Act gives effect to the decisions announced on 24 April 2002 and builds upon amendments introduced by the Government in 2001 to streamline the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) arbitration process for telecommunications access disputes. The provisions in the Act have been developed following extensive consultation with industry and other key stakeholders.
The amendments improve the operation of the access regime and the anti-competitive conduct rules. The key measures in the Act include:
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encouraging further investment in the telecommunications infrastructure required for broadband and other key communications services, by enabling potential investors to obtain up-front certainty, through undertakings to the ACCC about access prices and terms and conditions;
- providing greater certainty and more timely access for access seekers, by:
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- removing merits review of ACCC arbitrations;
- requiring the ACCC to produce model terms and conditions for 'core' telecommunications services;
- encouraging voluntary undertakings; and
- ensuring the effective operation of the standard access obligations; - improving the operation of the anti-competitive conduct regime under Part XIB by:
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- enabling the ACCC to issue advisory notices before a competition notice is issued; and
- requiring the ACCC to consult with affected parties before issuing a competition notice; and - a mechanism to require the preparation and publication of regulatory accounts to provide greater transparency of Telstra's wholesale and retail operations, particularly in relation to the 'core' interconnection services provided over Telstra's network. Further information on the accounting separation initiative can be found here.