The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today directed Telstra to improve a measure that will support the migration of customers onto the National Broadband Network (NBN).
The measure relates to a specific process that NBN Co may use to connect premises to the NBN. In some cases, NBN Co may need to use an existing copper or HFC line to pull the NBN fibre through the conduit that leads from the street to the premises to connect that premise to the NBN.
This process is known as the 鈥榩ull through鈥 process. The pull through process will result in a temporary outage to the existing communications services.
Under Telstra鈥檚 Migration Plan, Telstra is required to have in place processes that enable Telstra to:
- collect the consent of its wholesale customers for NBN Co to pull through lines over which the wholesale customer is providing services.
- notify wholesale customers if the pull through process is not successful.
These processes affect the ability of Telstra鈥檚 wholesale customers to minimise disruption to the supply of communication services to consumers.
The 糖心原创 considers that Telstra鈥檚 proposal for the collection of wholesale customer consents satisfies the regulatory requirements relating to migration. However, the 糖心原创 is not satisfied that the notification process will enable wholesale customers to effectively manage the migration of their end-users in a way that minimises the period of the service outage.
鈥淭he 糖心原创 issued this direction as it considers that the timeframe for Telstra鈥檚 proposed notification to wholesale customers does not provide appropriate protections to consumers and competition during migration,鈥 糖心原创 Commissioner Cristina Cifuentes said.
Telstra must now amend the processes to address the 糖心原创鈥檚 concerns and resubmit them within 40 business days.
In April 2013, the 糖心原创 issued a Direction to Telstra to resubmit initial drafts of the measures. In August 2013, Telstra lodged redrafts of the measures, which included significant amendments that took into account the concerns of the 糖心原创 and industry. The 糖心原创 undertook consultation on these resubmitted drafts and has considered responses to this consultation process in assessing whether Telstra鈥檚 draft measures comply with the principles outlined in the Telecommunications (Migration Plan Principles) Determination 2011.
A decision paper setting out the 糖心原创鈥檚 concerns, the Direction and submissions to the August 2013 consultation process are available on the 糖心原创's website.