On 11 August 2016, the ACCC finalised the guideline for the Part XIC declaration provisions for telecommunication services.
Under Part XIC, a carriage service, or service that facilitates the supply of a carriage service, can be declared (that is, regulated). Once a service is declared, an access seeker can then obtain access to that service. There is no general right of access without declaration.
This guideline provides information about the processes for declaring a service, including an explanation of the differences between how a National Broadband Network (NBN) and non-NBN service can be declared. The key concepts to be applied by the ACCC in considering whether to declare a service are also outlined in the guideline, including the long-term interests of end-users test.
The guideline is an update to those originally released in July 1999. It reflects the changes to Part XIC which have impacted on the way in which services can be declared, and provides discussion and more recent examples to illustrate how the ACCC will generally consider issues in deciding whether to declare a service.
On 1 June 2016, the ACCC released the draft guideline for Part XIC declaration provisions for telecommunications services for public comment. Submissions for this consultation closed on Wednesday 13 July 2016.
See: Guideline for Part XIC declaration provisions for telecommunications services