ACCC consults on new measures relating to “pull through” during migration to NBN

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a discussion paper inviting comment on two measures developed by Telstra under its migration plan.

The measures relate to a specific process that will be used by NBN Co in limited circumstances to connect premises to the National Broadband Network. In some cases NBN Co may need to use an existing copper or HFC line to pull the NBN fibre through the conduit that leads from the street to the premises to connect that premise to the NBN. This process is known as the “pull through” process. The pull through process will result in a temporary outage to the existing communications services.

Under the migration plan, Telstra is required to develop processes for collecting the consent of its wholesale customers to pull through lines over which they are providing services, and notifying wholesale customers if the pull through process is not successful. These processes may have important implications for the ability of wholesale customers to minimise disruption to the supply of communication services to consumers.

The discussion paper invites interested parties to comment on whether Telstra’s proposed processes comply with the regulatory requirements. Interested parties are invited to make written submissions on the discussion paper by 5pm on 1 February 2013.

The discussion paper is available on the ACCC website at http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1082236#toc3