The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has today published NBN Co’s proposed variation to its Special Access Undertaking (SAU) and is inviting feedback from interested parties on the proposed variation. The SAU is a key part of the framework that governs the price and other terms upon which NBN Co will supply wholesale services over the NBN.
NBN Co is seeking to vary its SAU, which has been in operation since it was accepted by the ACCC in December 2013. NBN Co formally submitted its SAU variation to the ACCC on 27 May 2016.
The main purpose of the SAU variation is to incorporate fibre-to-the-node, fibre-to-the-basement and hybrid fibre coaxial technologies as technologies to which the SAU will apply, to reflect the current NBN model. The effect of this will be to ensure that the SAU applies to all network technologies that have been introduced by NBN Co.
“The SAU provides an overarching framework for the regulation of access to the NBN,” ACCC Commissioner Cristina Cifuentes said.
“The SAU currently does not capture the additional network technologies that NBN Co has introduced since the SAU was accepted. NBN Co is now seeking to address this through the SAU variation.”
Although fibre-to-the-node, fibre-to-the-basement and hybrid fibre coaxial are not currently reflected in the SAU, NBN Co has so far been offering these services in a way that is consistent with the SAU. The SAU variation will seek to formalise the arrangements that are currently in operation but have not yet been incorporated into the SAU.
NBN Co also proposes to make a number of other changes to the SAU through the SAU variation. These include changes to the nature and extent of rollout progress information that it would be obliged to provide to NBN access seekers and minor changes to dispute resolution arrangements.
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) allows NBN Co to submit to the ACCC a variation to an SAU currently in operation. The ACCC must then decide whether to accept or reject the SAU variation, in accordance with the criteria set out in section 152CBD(2) of the CCA.
The ACCC is inviting submissions from interested parties on NBN Co’s proposed variation by 26 August 2016. The ACCC will shortly release a consultation paper on the SAU variation.
The SAU variation and related documentation is available on the ACCC website at https://www.accc.gov.au/regulated-infrastructure/communications/national-broadband-network-nbn/nbn-co-sau-variation.