Telstra faces fine of $33.22m for blocking exchange access (Australia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A fine of AUD40 million (USD33.22 million) has been faced by Australian fixed line incumbent Telstra for breaching obligations related to allowing its competitors access to its exchanges. Penalty is thought to be levied by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) against Telstra for each occasion it refused rivals access to its exchanges.
The watchdog is allowed to apply fines of up to AUD10 million under the existing legislation for each of the 27 incidences of refusal. However, it has been understood that the telco has admitted that it mistakenly rejected applications the ACCC is considering smaller penalties.
Although Telstra has claimed that the errors were the result of junior staff acting improperly, rather than following an official company policy, it has admitted that it wrongly denied access to alternative operators. Both the ACCC and Telstra have made their final submissions in the case and the final verdict lies with Federal Court.
Telstra loses appeal to charge AUD30 wholesale access fee (Australia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telstra’s latest appeal to set an AUD30 (USD27.1) per month wholesale access charge has been rejected by the Australian Competition Tribunal. Attempt has been made by the telco for more than five years to win the right to charge the fee to wholesale customers who wish to use the company’s copper network to deliver telephony and internet services to customers in metropolitan areas.
Approximately AUD17 a month is paid by the wholesale competitors, currently. Earlier in April 2009, Australian Competition Commission (ACCC) rejected an appeal by Telstra to charge AUD30.
According to Telstra spokesman Craig Middleton, the ACCC has started industry consultation on how to best determine regulated access pricing and it support this approach and is focused on achieving certainty for Telstra and industry, as quickly as possible, through a resolution of the appropriate costing of our network.
Telstra faces legal action for blocking exchange access (Australia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After a legal battle was initiated by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) against Australian telecom operator Telstra in March 2009, the court proceeding has finally started. It has been claimed by ACCC that the telco had deliberately delayed the rollout of rivals’ ADSL networks.
The case will be heard by the Federal Court in Melbourne. It has been alleged in the case that there was no room in local exchanges for other operators’ equipment, with existing legislation allowing for fines of up to AUD10 million (USD9.23 million) for every violation of the rules. Apart from this, the case contains allegations of 30 separate occasions on which access was blocked.
The claims of ACCC has been refuted by Telstra which has announced that it had voluntarily instituted a review of the access issues more than a year earlier, and had fixed them. However, in August 2009, the telco surprisingly admitted that it was guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct in denying competitors’ access to its copper network in a filing to the Federal Court on July 31.
Australian govt strike a deal with Telstra on NBN model
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Government-backed NBN Co agreed for the participation of Telstra in the $30 billion next-gen broadband network rollout. The deal is said to be finalized on a preferred model†according to which Telstra’sn copper access network will undergo a progressive transition†to an FTTP network as part of the NBN.
According to communication minister Stephen Conroy, legislation for the structural separation of Telstra has to be postponed in early 2010. However, the government was determined to pass the bill priority early in the New Year.
This legislation will provide a framework within which any agreement with Telstra can be independently evaluated by the ACCC.
