[AusNOG] Telstra flicks switch on high speed broadband network

[Paul Brooks]

Mark Newton wrote:
>
> It's often interesting to examine these kinds of statements by looking at 
> what wasn't said, as well as what was.
Indeed
> Because the way it looks to me is that the Communications Minister and
> Telstra have ganged-up on the ACCC, trying to force their will as a 
> /fait accomplis.  /At the end of the day, the Communications Minister can
> say whatever he likes about regulatory certainty, but the Trade Practices
> Act doesn't give him (or any other Minister) the authority to promulgate
> determinations like this.
Rubbish - I don't see the ACCC forced into anything. I think there is a 
bit more to it than that - On page 2 of the letter from Conroy to 
Trujillo are some fairly black-and-white arguments from Graeme Samuels 
(as reported by Conroy) as to precisely why the ACCC does not see a need 
for declaring ADSL 2+ - namely, that access seekers already have access 
to LSS and ULLS, and if anyone thinks they want to offer service in an 
area they already have the option of installing a DSLAM to do so. 
Infrastructure-based competition is better than resale and all that.

I haven't got time to back through the TPA to verify, but while I am 
sure they need to hold an enquiry etc if they are minded that they want 
to declare a new service, I am fairly sure they don't have to hold an 
enquiry and go through the process for every single request that might 
cross their door, if they are minded not to declare it.

> It'll be very interesting to see what the ACCC has to say about that 
> in the
> next few days.  In particular, if the ACCC has made a decision, why wasn't
> it announced under their letterhead by Graeme Samuels?  Are they likely
> to be just as surprised about this outcome as we have been?
The ACCC hasn't made a decision. The ACCC simply pointed the minister to 
its past public statements. Nothing has changed for the ACCC - all that 
has happened is that the Minister has written a letter to Telstra with 
the minister's opinion, and Telstra has said 'yes'. The only surprise I 
can think from the ACCC's perspective might be  "what took you so long - 
we told them all that a year ago".

-- 
Paul Brooks               |         Mob +61 414 366 605
Layer 10 Advisory         |         Ph  +61 2 9402 7355
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