The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued interim access determinations for the six key fixed line telecommunications services under the new telecommunications access regime, which came into effect on 1 January 2011. The new regime allows the ACCC to set the key price and non-price terms of supply upfront, in a significant move away from the old ‘negotiate and arbitrate’ regime that had been in place since 1997. The ACCC has also switched to a new ‘building block’ methodology to set access prices, which is more conventionally used in energy access regimes, reflecting its acceptance that the new Australian National Broadband Network is likely to replace, rather than compete with, Telstra’s existing copper network.
Frontier (Australia) has advised members of the Competitive Carriers’ Coalition on implementing the new pricing methodology.
For more information, please contact Marita O’Keeffe at m.okeeffe@frontier-economics.com.au or call +61 (0)3 9620 4488.
