Independent Review – Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
On 9 December 2021, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced it had made a decision to extend the existing declaration for the wholesale ADSL (WADSL) service.
The ACCC declared the WADSL service in 2012 and extended the declaration for five years in 2017, expiring on 13 February 2022. The declaration means that Telstra must provide access to the service upon request and, where commercial agreement cannot be reached, the regulated price and non-price terms will apply. The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) requires the ACCC to conduct a public inquiry into declaration of services before a declaration expires. The ACCC received broad stakeholder support to maintain the declaration of the wholesale ADSL service. The ACCC’s final decision extends the declaration until 30 June 2024.
Consistent with the Government’s Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) requirements, the Wholesale ADSL service declaration inquiry - final decision has been certified by the ACCC as meeting the requirements of a RIS. The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) does not assess the quality of independent reviews and RIS-like documents used in lieu of a RIS, but does assess whether the options analysed in the independent review are relevant to the regulatory proposal. The OBPR assessed that the options analysed in the independent review are sufficiently relevant to the regulatory proposal.
The agency estimates that extending the existing WADSL service declaration will not result in a change in regulatory burden from the original declaration ($68,000 p.a.).