The report and its 29 ‘Proposed Actions’ and ‘Proposed Recommendations’ traverse a broad landscape across the current and near future state of telecommunications service provision in Australia.

“We welcome the comprehensive nature of the report and its willingness to explore pro-competitive options in many areas of market structure, service delivery and performance,” Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton said today.

“Industry will digest the contents of the draft report and provide further feedback to the ACCC, in line with stated process.”

Mr Stanton noted that the proposed recommendation that the Federal Government consider whether NBN Co should continue to be obliged to recover its full cost of investment through its prices was reflective of an active current debate within industry and the broader community.

“Without commenting on the respective merits of potential actions to achieve this, the objective of providing NBN Co with ‘greater flexibility regarding its cost recovery’ is certainly an issue worth exploring,” Mr Stanton said.

He noted the ACCC’s belief that the Communications Alliance Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code could be augmented to address “a wide range of consumer issues in light of the increasing prevalence of NBN telecommunications offers.”
“The TCP Code is under revision at present and is the subject of wide-ranging consultation with stakeholders, including the ACCC.”

“The Code already specifies how service providers must act and behave when they offer services to consumers – including services offered on NBN-based networks. Nonetheless, the Working Committee undertaking the revision remains open to additional ideas and is already considering provisions that may warrant inclusion in a revised Code, as well as provisions that might no longer be relevant,” Mr Stanton concluded.