The domestic transmission capacity service (DTCS) was initially declared by the ACCC in June 1997. The ACCC extended the DTCS declaration for a further five years in April 2004.
On 24 August 2007 Telstra lodged an application seeking exemption from the standard access obligations of the DTCS on 20 capital-regional routes.
On 21 December 2007 Telstra lodged four additional exemption applications for inter-exchange and tail-end transmission in CBD and metropolitan areas, as well as in certain regional centres.
On 22 September 2008 the ACCC issued a combined draft decision on Telstra’s exemption applications. Following a period in which a number of interested parties made submissions, the ACCC released its final decision on 25 November 2008.