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Amending NBN Co’s Non-Discrimination Obligations to Allow it to Conduct Pilots or Trials with Specific Persons

Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Communications and the Arts

On 2 December 2015 the Government introduced the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Access Regime and NBN Companies) Bill 2015. The proposal allows NBN Co to conduct pilots and trials of new services or technology without requiring authorisation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Prior to the proposed changes, NBN Co was subject to strict non-discrimination obligations. These obligations ensured that NBN Co did not discriminate between access seekers and that access seekers received equal services, terms and conditions and equal levels of information and support. However, the Independent Cost-Benefit Analysis of Broadband and Review of Regulation (the Vertigan review) found that these obligations hindered the practice of pilots and trials which are necessary to the investigation of new and innovative improvements to the National Broadband Network. The changes are subject to a number of safeguards. Notably, changes to the non-discrimination obligations do not affect NBN Co’s fundamental operation in guaranteeing a level playing field for access seekers. A Regulation Impact Analysis (RIS) was prepared and certified by the Department of Communications and the Arts, and has been assessed as compliant and best practice by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). The RIS estimates the average regulatory cost at $31,000 per annum, and identifies offsets. The OBPR has agreed to the regulatory cost and offset estimates.