The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has received a revised structural separation undertaking from Telstra and is planning to make a final decision on the matter in February next year. However, in light of concerns related to wholesale ADSL services, the regulator said it is now giving urgent consideration to initiating a public inquiry into declaration of wholesale ADSL under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. In addition, the ACCC will shortly be finalising its inquiry into varying the exemption provisions in the final access determinations for the Wholesale Line Rental (WLR), Local Call Service (LCS), and Public Switched Telephone Network Originating Access (PSTN OA) services. "Provided that the outstanding concerns around wholesale ADSL can be quickly resolved, the ACCC is otherwise minded to accept the undertaking, subject to any new issues of real substance or drafting matters arising in the course of this final round of consultation," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said. The regulator will invite comments on the revised undertaking and issue a discussion paper shortly. The consultation period will close in mid-January 2012 and the ACCC intends to make a final decision on Telstra's undertaking in February. In a statement, Telstra said that NBN Co - the goverment company rolling out the National Broadband Network (NBN) - and Telstra plan to extend the deadline for conditions to be met under their NBN deal, which will see Telstra move its customers to the NBN.
