Telstra heading for clash with ACCC

TELSTRA is on a collision course with the competition regulator after the third largest internet service provider launched a broadband ADSL service that sidesteps part of the carrier's copper network charging regime.
Perth-based iiNet yesterday launched a national broadband and internet telephony service that allows consumers to bypass fees for voice services currently built into rentals for Telstra and Optus copper phone lines.
However, about 500,000 consumers who now receive ADSL service under line-sharing arrangements with Optus and Telstra could be struggling to make the switch.
The service has been made possible by a series of interim pricing decisions for unbundled local loop (ULL) services published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in mid-2006.
The iiNet service is the first of its kind to take advantage of new rules that require Telstra and Optus to make their copper lines available without standard voice services attached.
Iinet managing director Michael Malone said, however, that Telstra was yet to put procedures in place for migrating customers to unbundled lines. "The only way now for one of our customers to get that is to disconnect the current line and connect a new one. That's expensive and it also involves a couple of weeks of downtime.
"In the draft determination they've included pricing for migration but as yet Telstra hasn't implemented the process," Mr Malone said.
Optus declined to comment on the new service.
ACCC commissioner Ed Willett said the issue had already been raised with the regulator. He said, however, it was yet to be declared a formal dispute.
"If the service providers want us to actively do something about it, they will need to bring it to us as a dispute," Mr Willett said.
It is understood that around 5 per cent of 500,000 broadband services now in operation are delivered under line-sharing arrangements.
Mr Malone said its service would enable consumers to slice about $15 from their telephone bills.
The ACCC has set interim pricing for ULL services in metro areas outside the CBD (about 70 per cent of the market) at $17.70 monthly compared with fees hovering at $30 monthly for conventional line rental service.
The ULL service will allow smaller internet service providers to offer lower cost VoIP services as an alternative to conventional telephony services.
The iiNet offering replaces the standard voice service with an internet telephony service that will connect to the Public Switched Telephone Network.
IiNet said it would charge around $50 per month for the service, which would be available to about 3.5 million households.
A Telstra spokesman said the carrier had no plans to introduce an unbundled ADSL service.
"The vast majority of Australians want the security, reliability and quality of a fixed-line phone service," the spokesman said.
Source: theaustralian.news.com.au