August’s Advocacy Corner Update

We also made a submission responding to the Treasury’s Consumer Data Right (CDR) sectoral assessment for the telecommunications sector. In our submission, we extended our support for consumers to have a right to their own data to make informed choices, but argued that mechanisms already exist which facilitate that well. We highlighted that the CDR may add to existing compliance requirements for ISPs, and as a by-product limit competition within the telecommunications sector. We also called for the timeframe for consultation on the CDR to be extended, to ensure meaningful collaboration between government and industry can occur throughout this process.

August’s Advocacy Corner Update

IAA is participating in the working group that is developing the Building Block Model (BBM) underpinning the financials for the review of NBN Co’s standard access undertaking (SAU). This process will see us working collectively with the ACCC, NBN Co, RSPs and the Department of Communications to discuss and consider a revised BBM which accounts for accumulated losses, investments and ongoing expenditure. We have also been involved in the working group associated with developing the overall regulatory framework for the SAU.

Last month, we submitted a response to NBN Co’s SAU Variation discussion paper, in which we supported the concept of a flat-pricing model while opposing the idea of price control through embedded annual price rises. We supported NBN Co’s inclusion of the multi-technology mix (ie HFC and FTTN) within the SAU and recommended that NBN Co should think about how information on service standards for various technologies could be made available to RSPs.