Regulator Alters Rule To Tap Telstra Phone Access Regime

The Age

Tuesday July 15, 2008

Jesse Hogan, telecommunications reporter

TELSTRA'S ability to block competitors from installing their own broadband equipment in Telstra telephone exchanges has been curtailed by a new policy from the competition regulator.

The record-keeping rule, which demands greater disclosure of installation requests made by other telcos, removes the anomaly where Telstra's obligation to grant access would be overridden if Telstra - without independent verification - claimed there was no additional space in exchange buildings.

Now, if Telstra wants an access exemption it has to submit a detailed floor plan of the exchange, and a list of how much space it wants reserved, to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for approval.

"The ACCC believes that there is a strong need for independent oversight of Telstra's processes to cap exchanges to ensure that Telstra is held accountable and access seekers are not unreasonably denied access to Telstra exchanges," said ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel.

iiNet chief executive Michael Malone said Telstra had voluntarily cut its list of "capped" exchanges by about half in recent months, making it easier for rival access, but nevertheless said the ACCC intervention was needed.

"Telstra's (recent) goodwill is very good but you can't always rely upon that ... at least under this now there will be a process where the ACCC will say, 'well, demonstrate to us that an exchange really is capped'," he said.

The new policy also ensures greater disclosure for the current queueing system, where applicant telcos are told only what number they are in the installation queue, and given no indication which telcos are in front of them nor the expected time frame for installing their equipment.

Telstra now has to inform the ACCC the name of each telco in the queue, when they first applied for access to the exchange, and the status of their application. The ACCC is, however, yet to decide whether all that information will be publicly available.

Telstra dismissed the ACCC policy as "yet another time-consuming, expensive process that does nothing to help consumers", claiming the delays were caused by the "unprecedented demand" for access to its exchanges.

But Optus director of government and corporate affairs Maha Krishnapillai said the access problems identified by the ACCC in this policy "went to the heart of how they (Telstra) are able to slow down or frustrate the roll-out of competition".

"This is exactly why we need an independent, structurally separated Telstra Wholesale, so that

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© 2008 The Age

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