The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued its draft decision on the prices that other operators pay Telstra to use its copper network to provide telecommunications services to consumers.
The draft decision, covering the period from 1st July 2015 to 30th June 2019, is for a one-off uniform fall in access prices of 0.7 per cent for the seven access services. This compares with a one-off price increase of 7.2 per cent covering the same period that Telstra had sought in October 2014.
This draft decision covers the first ‘reset’ of the changed regulatory framework that was implemented in 2011. The ACCC has also addressed a number of key issues with the structural decline of the copper network, as the national broadband network (NBN) is replacing Telstra’s legacy network as the infrastructure by which Australians receive fixed line voice and broadband communications.
Frontier (Australia) has advised access seekers to Telstra’s network through the course of the review. These submissions have covered reviews of Telstra’s cost and demand forecasts, and approaches to dealing with the NBN transition.
For more information, please contact m.okeeffe@frontier-economics.com.au, or phone +61 3 9620 4488.
