The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has recently received notification of a telecommunications access dispute under Part XIC of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
NEC Australia Pty Ltd notified the ACCC of an access dispute on 8 July 2008 relating to Telstra's supply of the Line Sharing Service (LSS).
The LSS allows two carriers to provide separate services over a single metallic pair or line. The higher frequency part of the line is used by the access seeker to supply broadband (DSL) services, while the access provider simultaneously supplies a PSTN voice service over the same portion of the unconditioned local loop.
The ACCC has commenced the arbitration process for this access dispute. Given that the legislation contemplates that arbitrations be conducted in private, the ACCC will not be making any public comment at this stage.