Part XIC of the Trade Practices Act enables the ACCC to ‘declare’ telecommunications services. Upon declaration, standard access obligations apply. The access provider is obliged to supply the service to an access seeker upon request.
The ACCC has the ability to vary or revoke declarations, but with the exception of minor changes, must hold a public inquiry ahead of such changes.
ACCC commences declaration review for DDAS and ISDN
On 18 March 2009 the ACCC initiated a public inquiry by issuing a discussion paper to review the digital data access service and integrated services digital network declarations in regional areas. The DDAS and ISDN declarations in regional areas are due to expire on 30 June 2009 and the current review will decide whether the declarations should be extended, revoked, varied, allowed to expire or re-made before this date.
Submissions on the discussion paper are due by 15 April 2009 and the ACCC intends to issue a final report by 30 June 2009.
ACCC issues final report on review of transmission declaration
On 19 March 2009 the ACCC issued its final declaration report for the domestic transmission capacity service (DTCS). In the report, the ACCC has decided to vary the current declaration to exclude the capital–regional transmission routes and exchange service areas granted exemption in November 2008 as part of the ACCC’s decision on Telstra’s exemption applications. The ACCC has also decided to extend the varied declaration for five years, considering that it will promote regulatory certainty for access seekers and access providers.
The Trade Practices Act enables carriers to apply for exemptions from the standard access obligations that apply to a declared service. The ACCC can only grant exemptions where they promote the long term interests of end-users (LTIE).
Division 5 of Part XIC of the Trade Practices Act enables access providers to voluntarily lodge written access undertakings with the ACCC specifying the terms and conditions upon which they agree to supply a specified service. The ACCC can accept or reject the undertaking.
ACCC proposes access arrangements for digital radio
On 19 March 2009 the ACCC commenced consultation on a proposed access arrangement for the transmission service necessary for digital radio services, due to begin in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney no later than 1 July 2009. The proposed undertaking is based on those previously submitted by the eight multiplex licensees. The access undertaking that will determine the terms and conditions on which the multiplex transmission licensees will provide the service to radio broadcasters. The licensees will be responsible for multiplexing together the separate streams of content from individual broadcasters and transmitting a combined stream to end users in each licence area.
Submissions on the proposed undertaking are due by 3 April 2009.
The ACCC is able to arbitrate telecommunications access disputes and make a final binding determination to resolve a dispute. Arbitration hearings are private and the ACCC generally does not make any public comment on disputes except to announce when a dispute has been notified.
New access disputes
In March 2009 the ACCC was notified of a new access dispute between Chime Communications Pvt Ltd and Telstra Corporation Ltd regarding the terms on which the line sharing service (LSS) is to be migrated to unconditioned local loop service (ULLS).
In March 2009 the ACCC extended the operation of six interim determinations made in arbitration of disputes over access to the LSS for another 12 months as follows:
ACCC institutes proceedings against Telstra for alleged breach of standard access obligations
On 19 March 2009 the ACCC announced that it instituted proceedings in the Federal Court, Melbourne against Telstra Corporation Limited for alleged contraventions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the Telecommunications Act 1997, relating to its standard access obligations for the ULLS and LSS. The ACCC alleges that:
Telstra has refused access seeker requests for interconnection at seven key metropolitan exchanges by claiming that they were 'capped'. In particular, Telstra claimed that there was no capacity on the main distribution frames available for access seekers to interconnect their equipment to the copper wires running to customer homes.
Telstra has breached the access regime in the Telecommunications Act that requires Telstra to provide access to its facilities. Both the standard access obligations and the access regime in the Telecommunications Act are conditions of Telstra’s carrier licence.
Telstra has engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in contravention of s. 52 of the Trade Practices Act, by representing to access seekers individually and on lists of 'capped' exchanges published on the Telstra Wholesale website.
Directions hearings are scheduled to begin in the Federal Court on 17 April 2009.
Release of final statement of approach—priorities and objectives of electricity transmission network service provider performance reports
On the 30 March 2009 the AER released its final statement of approach on the priorities and objectives of transmission network service provider (TNSP) performance reports.
The National Electricity Law (NEL) requires the AER to consult to determine the appropriate priorities and objectives to be addressed through the preparation of network service provider performance reports.
In December 2008 the AER released a discussion paper that proposed priorities and objectives for electricity transmission network service provider TNSP performance reports. The AER received five submissions on the discussion paper.
The statement of approach and submissions can be found on the AER website.
Draft decision—Victorian interval meter reassignment requirements
On 19 March the AER released its draft decision on the interval meter reassignment requirements for Victorian distribution network providers. These establish the customer notification and information requirements for Victorian distributors before they can reassign smaller customers (those consuming less than 20 MWh per annum of electricity) to a time-of-use network tariff, following the installation by the distributor of an interval meter under the advanced meter initiative roll out. The draft decision is available on the AER website.
Submissions to the draft decision are requested by 10 April 2009.
Queensland distribution network service provider cost allocation methods
On 17 March 2009 the AER published the cost allocation methods to be used by Ergon Energy and Energex in their regulatory proposals for 2010–15.
The procedures to be followed by the electricity distributors in preparing accounting statements for regulated parts of their businesses and the preparation of forecast operating and capital expenditure under the National Electricity Rules (NER) are outlined in their cost allocation methods.
The approved cost allocation methods will be maintained on the websites of each business.
The AER’s decision documents and public versions of the distribution network service providers' cost allocation methods are available on the AER website.
Supplementary draft decision for public lighting services for New South Wales distribution businesses
On 13 March 2009 the AER released its supplementary draft decision on the prices and price paths that will apply to public lighting (alternative control) services provided by the New South Wales electricity distribution businesses, (Country Energy, EnergyAustralia and Integral Energy) for the regulatory control period from 2009–10 to 2013–14. The AER has undertaken a detailed analysis of the charging arrangements for public lighting proposed by the distribution businesses and has established a new regime to determine public lighting charges and prices.
Submissions on the supplementary draft decision closed on 27 March 2009. The AER will make its final decision on the prices and price paths to apply to New South Wales public lighting services as part of its final distribution determination for the New South Wales distribution businesses in late April 2009. The supplementary draft decision is available on the AER website.
On 25 March 2009 the AER released the final Access arrangement guideline, which has been prepared to assist service providers and other interested parties in the context of the AER’s assessment of the access arrangement proposals for gas pipelines under the NGL and the National Gas Rules (NGR), which commenced on 1 July 2008. The final guideline has been amended to reflect comments received during the consultation process on the draft. The guideline is available on the AER website.
High-price events in the national electricity market
In March 2009 the AER released five Prices above $5000/MWh reports about spot prices above $5000/MWh in January in South Australia (on 13, 19, 28 and 29 January), New South Wales (on 15 January), Victoria (on 28, 29 and 30 January) and Tasmania (on 30 January).
On 31 March 2009 the spot price in South Australia reached $5022/MWh. As required under the NER, the AER will issue a Prices above $5000/MWh report on the event.
The AER will conduct further inquiries into the events of 29 and 30 January, when several transmission line interruptions occurred following record demand. The AER has sought information from a number of parties to assess compliance with the NEL and NER.
Monday 30 March 2009—Airport monitoring report 2007–08: price, financial performance and quality of service monitoring
The ACCC released its annual airport monitoring report on 30 March 2009. The Airport monitoring report 2007–08: price, financial performance and quality of service monitoring presents the results of the ACCC’s price and quality of service monitoring, financial reporting and airport car parking monitoring for Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne (Tullamarine), Perth and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) airports. The information provides transparency to airport operations that assists users to assess industry performance.
The ACCC’s quality of service results reflect the views of passengers, airlines and government agencies using the airports’ services and facilities (such as terminals and runways). For example, passengers are surveyed on their experiences relating to waiting in check-in lines in terminals and passing through security control points. However, the measurements do not include terminals not owned and run by the airport operators. Terminals excluded from monitoring include the Qantas domestic terminals in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports, and most of the domestic terminal in Brisbane airport (where it is leased to Qantas and Virgin Blue). All international terminals are, however, included in monitoring.
For the third consecutive year, users of the monitored airports, on average, reported a decline in the quality of services and facilities provided by the airports. At the same time, passenger numbers continued to increase. Brisbane airport was rated the highest among the monitored airports for the fifth year in a row, while Sydney airport was rated last of the five airports for the third consecutive year. Adelaide airport remained in second place in 2007–08, followed by Perth and Melbourne airports.
Passenger numbers increased at all monitored airports in 2007–08. The highest percentage growth in passenger numbers was at Perth airport, where passengers increased by 13.5 per cent, or 1.1 million, followed by Melbourne airport (7.8 per cent) and Adelaide airport (7.6 per cent). Sydney and Brisbane airports had the lowest passenger growth at 5.7 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively.
Sydney airport had the highest aeronautical revenue per passenger (as a proxy for average prices charged to airlines) at $12.97 (an increase of 8.5 per cent). Adelaide had the second highest average price at $11.41 (an increase of 3.5 per cent) followed by Perth airport at $8.11 (a decrease of 0.2 per cent). Melbourne airport had the second lowest average price at $7.73 (an increase of 8.9 per cent). Brisbane airport charged the least, at $7.54, despite having the highest percentage increase of the monitored airports (26.9 per cent) in 2007–08.
Sydney airport also reported the highest total aeronautical revenue at $431 million in 2007–08 (an increase of 14.7 per cent), followed by Melbourne airport at $187 million (an increase of 17.4 per cent). Brisbane airport had the highest percentage increase in 2007–08 (33.6 per cent), yielding total aeronautical revenue of $142 million. Adelaide and Perth airports reported the lowest aeronautical revenue at $77 million and $75 million respectively (corresponding to increases of 11.5 per cent and 13.2 per cent).
The increases at Brisbane airport partly resulted from an agreement with airlines to increase prices to fund new investment. Also, increases were partly attributable to a change in definition of aeronautical charges in 2007–08, which meant that some previously excluded charges are now included.
The ACCC observed that the average charges levied by the airports do not appear to be strongly related to the quality of service they provide. For example, airport users at Brisbane airport, which had the lowest average passenger charges, remained the most satisfied in 2007–08 whereas Sydney airport, with the highest average charges, was ranked last for service quality.
There was also a new focus on airport car parking in the 2007–08 report. The report discusses factors that may affect the price of car parking at airports. Although not conclusive, the ACCC considered that some results were consistent with airports having a monopoly position.
Combined total car parking revenue for the monitored airports was $244 million in 2007–08 compared to total airport revenue of $2.2 billion. This equated to airport car parking accounting for approximately 11 per cent of the airports’ total revenue in 2007–08.
At Melbourne airport, car parking revenue provided the greatest contribution towards total revenue at around 21 per cent. It was less significant at Sydney airport at 7 per cent. Charges for car parking were roughly constant or increased slightly on average in 2007–08, though prices appear to have increased more significantly over the four years prior to 2007–08.
In 2007–08, overall ratings for quality of airport car parking increased slightly for Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney airports, while ratings decreased significantly for Brisbane and Perth airports. Melbourne airport was rated as having the highest quality of airport car parking, while Sydney airport was ranked lowest.
On 6 March 2009 the ACCC released an issues paper on the development of water trading rules.
The Water Act 2007 requires the preparation of a new strategic plan for the integrated and sustainable management of water resources in the Murray–Darling Basin (the 'Basin Plan').
The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) is responsible for preparing the Basin Plan, which must include water trading rules for the trading or transfer of tradeable water rights in relation to Murray–Darling Basin water resources.
In preparing these water trading rules, the MDBA is required to obtain and consider the advice from the ACCC.
This issues paper is the first step in developing this advice. The ACCC invites interested parties to make submissions on the issues raised in the paper and on water trading more generally.
Submissions for the issues paper must be provided to the ACCC by Friday, 1 May 2009.
