Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Communications and the Arts
On 22 June 2017 the Government introduced the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Bill 2017 to Parliament.
Amongst other measures, the Bill establishes an ongoing funding arrangement for fixed wireless and satellite infrastructure by imposing a monthly charge on carriers, including NBN Co Ltd, in relation to each premises connected to their network that has an active fixed-line superfast broadband service during the month. Budget funding was considered as an option, but rejected.
A Regulation Impact Statement (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 that this proposal, along with the proposal to create a statutory infrastructure provider (SIP) will have an annual average net regulatory cost of $43,000.