COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE WELCOMES MODERNISED CONSUMER SAFEGUARDS

Sydney, 17 December 2019: Communications Alliance and its members today welcomed the Government’s announcement on modernising consumer safeguards in telecommunications.

“Keeping telecommunications regulations up to date with changing technologies and consumer expectations is an important task. This report seeks to strike a balance between consumer protection and consumer benefit through competition, innovation, and increased value, and we look forward to consulting further with Government on implementation of the recommendations,” said Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton.

“We are pleased to see that the Consumer Safeguards Review Part B Final report reflects elements of the industry feedback on the initial Departmental recommendations and the consultation undertaken by the Minister and the Department during the past year.

“I believe it paves the way for providers to make continuity commitments in ways that support consumer choice and preferences, are appropriate to providers’ business models and promote competitive differentiation.

“The move away from some elements of the initial Part B proposals removes some potentially anticompetitive outcomes, which had caused concern within industry and could have stifled innovation and created increased costs for consumers,” continued Stanton.

“We are reviewing and considering the detailed recommendations in the report, but support the approach, including that outdated regulation should be removed, implementation should actively avoid the risk of duplicative regulation, and competition will bring the most benefit to consumers. Industry is pleased that the recommendations provide a framework for stakeholders of all types to contribute to developing the detail and implementation of the recommendations – which should lead to better, more informed outcomes.”