Telstra Corporation Limited has lodged a second application with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for an exemption from its obligations to supply local calls to its competitors for resale in certain CBD areas, metropolitan areas and regional areas of Australia.
The exemption application relates to the metropolitan areas of all capital cities, central business district areas of Hobart, Canberra and Darwin, and three regional areas, Newcastle, Wollongong and Geelong.
Local call resale is used by Telstra's competitors to re-supply local telephone calls to their customers. The service was declared by the ACCC in mid-1999 following a public inquiry. That decision requires Telstra (and other carriers) to provide the service to requesting telecommunications service providers.
This is the second application by Telstra for exemption in relation to the supply of local call resale services. Telstra's first exemption application, received by the ACCC in June 2000, relates to the CBD areas of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The ACCC has issued a discussion paper in relation to Telstra's first application and received submissions from interested parties. The Commission is considering the matters raised in the submissions.
The ACCC is currently arbitrating seven disputes over the terms and conditions of supply of the local carriage service. These have been notified by Cable & Wireless Optus, AAPT, Macquarie Corporate Telecommunications, dingo blue, One.Tel, RSL COM and Primus Telecommunications, all against Telstra.
The ACCC will provide the opportunity for interested persons to comment on Telstra's second application in the near future.