The ACCC collects data on broadband take-up from a limited number of broadband providers, cross-classified by technology type and type of customer. This information is summarised in the ACCC's snapshot of broadband deployment reports.
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts issued the Monitoring and Reporting on Competition in the Telecommunications Industry Determination 2003 (No. 1) (on the DCITA website) on 5 May 2003 under sub-ss. 151CMA(1) and (3) of the Trade Practices Act. The determination requires the ACCC to report quarterly at the aggregate level on wholesale and retail broadband availability and take-up, cross-classified by technology type, data speed, data usage, geographic postcode and business sector.
The ACCC has sought submissions from broadband internet service providers on the feasibility of the proposed implementation approach. The discussion paper released at the time of the consultation is available below.
Revocation of Ministerial Determination – April 2007
The ACCC has received a letter from the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, revoking the Monitoring and Reporting on Competition in the Telecommunications Industry Determination 2003 (No. 1) ('12A Determination').
The ACCC has considered the implications of this revocation, and has decided that it will cease publication of its quarterly Broadband Snapshot time series of broadband take-up. The Broadband Snapshot had been maintained to fulfil, in part, an identified need for broadband statistics which gave rise to the 12A Determination.
Given the recent recommencement of the ABS' Internet Activity Survey ('IAS'), and confirmation that its half-yearly reporting will continue in future, the ACCC will cease publication of the Broadband Snapshot in the interests of minimising uncertainty and inconsistencies in reporting. Data collection and publication of this nature is not part of the ACCC's core telecommunications functions, and given the voluntary nature of the survey which underpins the Broadband Snapshot, may lead to under-estimation relative to the more robust method employed by the ABS.
While the ACCC will no longer be publishing the Broadband Snapshot, it will be giving further consideration to the ongoing collection of comparable data for certain needs which the ABS data alone will not fulfil.
