The ACCC has decided to maintain existing price and non-price terms until 30 June 2024 for seven declared, or regulated, fixed line wholesale services.
The seven declared services, predominantly supplied by Telstra, include:
- the unconditioned local loop service (ULLS),
- line sharing service (LSS),
- wholesale line rental (WLR),
- local carriage service (LCS),
- fixed originating and terminating access services (FOAS and FTAS), and
- wholesale ADSL.
The ACCC’s decision means wholesale prices for non-NBN fixed line services will reduce in real terms over the next five years.
“Our decision will provide real price reductions and certainty for the industry in relation to voice and broadband services which are still being provided through Telstra’s copper network and other legacy infrastructure,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
This decision is expected to be the last to be made by the ACCC in relation to most of these fixed line services. The NBN is due to be completed in June 2020, and because most customers have 18 months to switch from Telstra’s legacy networks to the NBN if they choose to do so, customer migration is expected to be mostly done by 2022.
After the migration, only a small number of services will remain connected to these legacy networks.
“Although the NBN rollout is almost finished, RSPs will still need to use these legacy networks to provide services to some consumers for a few more years,” Mr Sims said.
“Maintaining the current prices and other terms of access will give the industry some certainty and stability as the NBN migration continues.”
This decision will come into effect on 15 November 2019.
The final decision follows a Fixed line service Final Access Determination public inquiry conducted by the ACCC.
Notes to editors:
The ACCC has a separate inquiry underway regarding NBN Co’s charges for basic speed broadband access services. This inquiry relates to NBN Co’s wholesale pricing and basic speed retail plans.
