ACCC reassures industry on fibre to the node discussions with Telstra

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today reassured the telecommunications industry and the public that decisions about access to any fibre-to-the-node network would only be made after public scrutiny and due process.

The ACCC and Telstra have recently been discussing a possible investment by Telstra in a FTTN network upgrade.

At this preliminary stage, Telstra has been explaining its needs for regulatory certainty as to access arrangements before making an investment decision. It also wishes to ensure that it can recover the costs of investment in new infrastructure before it proceeds with any investment.

In turn, the ACCC has signalled its longstanding view that regulatory arrangements should provide incentives in the long term for both facilities-based competition and competition in downstream services.

"The discussions have been constructive", ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today. "However, no decisions have been made, nor any agreement reached".

Rather the discussions should put Telstra in a position to develop a comprehensive undertaking, which can be submitted to full public consultation.

The ACCC would then be able to receive and fully consider the views of the industry and the public before making any decision on access arrangements, including whether and how the existing ULL declaration should continue to apply either where FTTN has been rolled out or elsewhere.

Ultimately any regulatory outcome should take into account the incentives for investment in a FTTN network upgrade, the desirability of promoting competition and the interests of all stakeholders – including those carriers who have already made broadband investments based on the existing unbundled local loop declaration.

It is anticipated that public consultation on a proposal will be sought as early as May 2006.

Telstra's FTTN proposal is for an upgrade to the fixed telecommunications network that brings fibre closer to the home for four million businesses and homes, who are currently too far from an exchange to receive advanced broadband speeds of 12 Mb per second or more. Telstra estimates the capital costs of construction at $3 billion.