Voice interconnection services access determination inquiry

After considering submissions to the Discussion Paper, the ACCC will develop a cost model to inform its consideration of the price terms for the final access determinations for the voice interconnection services.

Specifically, the ACCC will develop a single cost model that is capable of producing cost estimates for the mobile terminating access service (MTAS), fixed terminating access service (FTAS) and the fixed originating access service (FOAS) based on total service long-run incremental cost plus a contribution towards the recovery of common and organisational-level costs (known as TSLRIC+). We intend that this cost model will reflect the costs incurred by a hypothetically efficient operator in deploying a 4G/5G mobile network in Australia, with FTAS and FOAS costs estimated using core network assets from the model.

The ACCC considers that this is the most appropriate approach in this case having regard to the legislative matters under section 152BCA(1) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

The ACCC has engaged an external consultant to develop this cost model and will shortly be contacting relevant stakeholders seeking information to inform this process.

The ACCC is currently expecting to release a position and consultation paper setting out our reasons for adopting this pricing approach as well as seeking feedback on proposed model specifications in early April 2025.