Chapter Ten
Related legislative developments
Telecommunications Competition and Consumer Safeguards Bill
10.1
The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer
Safeguards) Bill 2009 (the CCS Bill) seeks to introduce a series of regulatory reforms
intended to enhance competitive outcomes in the Australian telecommunications
industry and strengthen consumer safeguards. It seeks to address Telstra's
vertical and horizontal integration, streamline the telecommunications access
and anti-competitive conduct regime, and strengthen consumer safeguards,
including the Universal Service Obligation (USO) and the Customer Service
Guarantee (CSG).
10.2
The CCS Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on
15 September 2009. On 17 September 2009 it was referred to the Senate Environment,
Communications and the Arts Legislation Committee for inquiry and report. That
committee tabled its report in October 2009.[1]
10.3
In its Third Report, this committee discussed the provisions of
the CCS Bill and recommended:
That further consideration of the bill not proceed until
after the NBN Implementation Study has been completed, the government has
tabled its response to the Implementation Study and the Senate has certainty
about the network structure of the NBN Co and the regulatory framework which
will surround it.[2]
10.4
During the first parliamentary sittings periods of 2010, the CCS Bill
was subject to protracted procedural wrangling on the basis of the Government's
failure to table the Implementation Study, and continued uncertainty about the
Government and NBN Co's commercial negotiations with Telstra as to the
acquisition of its assets and customer migration for the NBN.
10.5
At the time of writing this report, the CCS Bill had not passed the
Senate.
Fibre in greenfields policy
10.6
When announcing its plans to build the NBN, the Government also
indicated that it would '[p]rogress legislative changes that will govern the
national broadband network company and facilitate the rollout of fibre
networks, including requiring greenfield developments to use FTTP technology
from 1 July 2010'.[3]
This was known as the Government's 'fibre in greenfields' policy.
10.7
The Government introduced the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment
(Fibre Deployment) Bill 2010 (the Fibre Deployment Bill) to implement that
policy.
10.8
On 18 March 2010 the Senate referred provisions of the Fibre Deployment
Bill to the Environment, Communications and the Arts Legislation Committee for
inquiry and report by 12 May 2010.
10.9
In light of that process, this committee does not propose to discuss the
provisions of the Fibre Deployment Bill, except to note that a response by the
Department to one of the questions on notice raised during the course of that
inquiry was particularly alarming to this committee.
10.10
In response to a question about whether it would be inequitable to
require greenfield estates (ie new developments) to pay for the installation of
fibre-related infrastructure while existing premises would (presumably) be
serviced for free as part of the national NBN roll-out, the Department
suggested that no premises may receive free installation and deployment of
fibre to the premises. The Department stated:
It was noted in the Second Reading Speech [for the Fibre
Deployment Bill] that the cost recovery arrangements that may ultimately apply
in greenfields will depend on the commercial arrangements that emerge between
all relevant parties as fibre-to-the-premises is deployed more widely.
How roll-out costs will be recovered in both brownfields and greenfields
will depend on a range of factors and it cannot simply be assumed that
stakeholders in greenfields will have to meet costs in one way while those in
brownfields are expected to meet them in another. In all instances, NBN Co
is expected to operate on a commercial basis and to recover its costs.[4]
10.11
If owners of existing Australian premises will indeed be required to pay
for the costs of deployment of the NBN to their premises (and by 'deployment'
the committee is encompassing more than just the costs of internal wiring of the
home once the fibre is deployed down the street), then significant questions
arise as to whether such an arrangement would mean Australians will in effect be
paying twice for the network: first as taxpayers whose dollars are funding the
roll-out; second, as residents who, through presumably a network connection
fee, usage charge or some other similar arrangement, are required to pay a
second time for the NBN to actually service their individual premises.
Senator Ian Macdonald
Chair
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