ACCC publishes data on take-up of broadband access services
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today published details of the take up of broadband access services on Telstra's copper network.
The data provides, for the first time, details of the take up of these broadband access services between metropolitan, regional and rural areas. The data shows three quarters of these services – and the bulk of unconditioned local loop services (ULLS) and line sharing services (LSS) – are located in metropolitan areas. Details of voice-only lines are also provided.
The number of ULLS and LSS taken up in regional Australia are at a similar level, notwithstanding whether uniform national pricing (as for LSS) or differentiated pricing applies. This suggests that take up of these services in regional areas is being affected by factors other than the structure of access prices, such as population density, length of copper lines, and the availability and pricing of backhaul services.
This information is fundamental to a range of decisions that are before the ACCC, and today's publication is aimed at ensuring the data is available for interested parties' information and comment. The data will be available on the ACCC website.
The initial data, published today, provides a snapshot of the copper network as at 30 September 2007. ULLS and LSS take-up has since increased from the 640,000 (ULLS and LSS) services reported in the initial data.
The ACCC has begun consultation with Telstra about publication of this information at the end of each quarter.
The snapshot has been prepared from data that Telstra provided to the ACCC under a record keeping and reporting rule, the Telstra Customer Access Network Record Keeping Rule (Telstra CAN RKR). Before the data can be published, the ACCC is required to consult with Telstra as the provider of the information.
Under this rule, Telstra reports each quarter the total number of ULLS, LSS and its own voice and digital subscriber line (DSL) services that are in operation as at the end of the calendar quarter. The data is disaggregated by individual provider on an exchange service area (ESA) basis for each quarter.
For the purposes of preparing the snapshot, the data is aggregated into geographic areas (ULLS bands).
The ULLS bands are as follows:
Band 1 ESAs are in central business districts
Band 2 ESAs are in metropolitan areas (more than 108.4 services in operation (SIOs) per square km)
Band 3 ESAs are in regional and rural areas (more than 6.54 SIOs per sq km)
Band 4 ESAs are in remote areas (less than 6.55 SIOs per sq km).
The ULLS is a service for access to unconditioned cable, usually a copper wire pair, between a telephone exchange and an end user's home or office. The ULLS essentially gives an access seeker the use of the copper pair without any dial tone or carriage service. This allows the access seeker to use its own equipment in an exchange to provide a range of services, including traditional voice services and high speed internet access, to the end-user.
The LSS is an access service that allows access to the higher frequency spectrum of a line (metallic pair) on which a PSTN voice service is being supplied. It typically allows two carriers to provide separate services over a line. Access to the higher frequency spectrum is generally used to supply broadband (DSL) services, while the PSTN voice service is supplied over the lower frequency spectrum.
The information published today is current to 30 September 2007. Telstra has published more recent total SIO data for its retail and wholesale broadband services (DSL, cable and wireless), ULLS and LSS services in its public report for the half year ended 31 December 2007 (published February 2008). For instance, Telstra reported that there were 768,000 ULLS and LSS in operation as at 31 December 2007. However, the distribution of services between geographic bands is not provided, and the reported broadband data are not specific to the copper network.
The information is being published for the information of interested parties, as this type of information is likely to be relevant to a number of matters that could come before the ACCC for decision, such as applications for exemptions from regulation in geographic areas.
Snapshot of Telstra's customer access network as at 30 September 2007
Total Voice only SIOs [1]
Total Voice and DSL SIOs [2]
Total DSL only SIOs [3]
ULLS Access Seeker [4]
LSS Access Seeker [5]
Band 1
217,606
39,042
4,254
20,911
17,133
Band 2
4,581,434
2,081,764
31,954
282,251
314,327
Band 3
1,237,340
780,551
9,708
3,013
6,099
Band 4
792,053
225,339
5,253
73
641
[1] Total Voice only SIOs, as described in Attachment A to the Telstra Customer Access Network Record Keeping and Reporting Rules 2007 (Telstra CAN RKR) [2] Total Voice and DSL SIOs, described in Attachment A to the Telstra CAN RKR [3] Total DSL only SIOs, as described in Attachment A to the Telstra CAN RKR [4] ULLS Access Seeker, as described in Attachment A to the Telstra CAN RKR [5] LSS Access Seeker, as described in Attachment A to the Telstra CAN RKR
