Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Australia: the regulator has rejected the proposal of the incumbent operator on local loop unbundling

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued a final decision to reject Telstra's Undertaking application for a $30 monthly charge for the Unconditioned Local Loop Service in metropolitan areas.

The charge relates to the rental price Telstra charges competitors for access to the copper wire from the telephone exchange to a house or office.

The ULLS essentially gives an access seeker (competitor) the use of the copper pair without any dial tone or carriage service. This allows the access seeker to use its own equipment in an exchange to provide a range of services, including traditional voice services and high speed internet access, to the end-user.

There are approximately 10 million services in operation with around seven million in for the densely populated metropolitan areas (Band 2). Telstra's Undertaking only covers the Band 2 exchange service areas of Australia servicing about 70 per cent of the population but only 0.2 per cent of the land.

"Following an extensive assessment of Telstra's Undertaking, including Telstra's own cost model, the ACCC is not satisfied the $30 charge for metropolitan areas is reasonable," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said.

ACCC final decision to again reject Telstra's unreasonable ULLS undertaking

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