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ACCC fears incumbent could gain an advantage from input into NBN; Telstra wins A$1.6bn HFC works deal with NBN.
Australia’s competition authority is concerned about the extent of Telstra’s role in the rollout of the country’s national broadband network and is looking into a series of proposals from the incumbent telco and NBN designed to mitigate any threat to competition.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Monday said it is keen to ensure that Telstra does not gain an advantage over rival retail operators as a result of its technical input into the NBN.
The ACCC’s announcement came shortly after Telstra revealed its latest deal with NBN; it has signed a contract worth A$1.6 billion to upgrade the hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) infrastructure it agreed to transfer to NBN over a year ago.
The deal covers planning, design, construction and construction management services and the works are expected to run until 2020, Telstra said. It includes geographic areas within the Telstra HFC network footprint in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth and Adelaide, the telco added.
"While recognising that using Telstra’s technical expertise will contribute to a quicker rollout of the NBN, the ACCC remains concerned that competition issues arise from agreements that involve Telstra in the construction and maintenance of the NBN, including the HFC delivery agreement announced earlier today," the ACCC said.
According to ACCC chairman Rod Sims, the watchdog has raised a number of concerns with Telstra and NBN, including the fact that Telstra could gain an advantage by having access to better information about the network than other retail operators, or if it were permitted to use the NBN infrastructure before its rivals.
The ACCC has held talks with both companies and received certain commitments from them addressing its concerns.
"We are looking at the parties’ proposals carefully to consider to what extent these proposals address our concerns," Sims said.
"It is important that Telstra doesn’t get a head-start selling retail services over the NBN just because its technical expertise is being used in the construction and maintenance of the NBN," he added.
