Telstra faces competition concerns over NBN involvement

News Broadband Australia 11 APR 2016
Telstra faces competition concerns over NBN involvement

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has expressed concerns around the competition implications of Telstra’s involvement in the roll-out of the NBN network. The announcement follows news of a AUD 1.6 billion contract for Telstra to upgrade its HFC network before handing it over to the NBN. 

The ACCC said it recognises that using Telstra’s technical expertise will contribute to a quicker roll-out of the NBN, but the regulator is concerned that Telstra's involvement will give it an advantage once the NBN is opened to retail service providers. The concerns includes that Telstra may receive a competitive advantage if it has access to better information than other service providers or if it is able to use infrastructure built for the NBN network before that infrastructure becomes available to other retail service providers. 

The regulator said it has held "extensive and productive discussions" with NBN and Telstra to seek to address the concerns, and the operators recently provided a set of proposals aimed at addressing the concerns. The ACCC is now evaluating the proposals, details of which were not provided. 



 

Categories:

Fixed

Companies:

Telstra,  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,  NBN Co

Countries:

Australia

Tags:

Network Access, Regulations, Network operations services, Wholesale

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