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Trans-Tasman Mobile Roaming – Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

On 9 February 2013, the Prime Minister announced that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be provided with new powers to investigate and undertake regulatory actions, if deemed necessary, in the Trans‑Tasman mobile roaming market. The New Zealand competition and consumer regulator will also be given similar powers by the New Zealand Government. This will enable the Australian and New Zealand regulators to take reciprocal regulatory action, if required, as unilateral measures by each country are considered to be ineffective in benefiting consumers.   The Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) notes that consumers and business travellers moving between Australia and New Zealand once faced very significant charges for mobile roaming voice, SMS and data services. However, in recent years prices and margins have trended lower, and new entrants at the retail level have also added competitive pressures to the benefit of roaming customers. These developments suggest that the Trans-Tasman mobile roaming market is evolving to a competitive one.  Whether these competitive pressures will continue in the future to the benefit of consumers is difficult to predict. The RIS considered a number of options such as maintaining the status quo, monitoring the market, structural intervention and direct price regulation. The preferred options were to further increase pricing and margins transparency and empower the ACCC to be able to choose regulatory measures, should it determine that intervention in the Trans-Tasman mobile roaming market is warranted. While the ACCC would have the power to introduce regulatory measures, it would not be required to do so, unless it concluded that there was a market failure. The RIS was prepared by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.