Telstra and ACCC battle over productivity report - News - Communications

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Telstra and ACCC battle over productivity report

By Vivienne Fisher, ZDNet Australia
January 16, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Telstra-and-ACCC-battle-over-productivity-report/0,130061791,120262967,00.htm

A public enquiry by the Productivity Commission into telecommunications competition regulation has been met with opposing responses from Telstra and the ACCC.

While the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is pushing for greater powers, Telstra is adamant that any extra powers would come at the expense of competition.

Andrew Maiden, spokesperson for Telstra, believes that by promoting competition consumers will be better off.

"One the whole we think they're on the right track," Maiden said. "The ACCC call for extra powers, if granted, could only come at the expense of competition."

The ACCC, on the other hand, sees it differently. Lin Enright, director of public relations at the ACCC, said that Telstra had inherited a great amount of market power. "Basically, we're trying to even up the situation so competitors can get better access to the network on more competitive terms."

Enright said the ACCC had not decided which extra powers it would be seeking. She believes one of the problems at the moment is that Telstra has unlimited rights of appeal, which has the potential for them to arbitrate and rearbitrate.

A spokesperson from the Productivity Commission said the government had not yet issued a response to the inquiry report into telecommunications competition regulation. The report was released by the Commonwealth Government on December 21 last year.

The Commission was requested to conduct the public inquiry by the Treasurer, looking at the operation of certain provisions of the Trade Practices Act and the Telecommunications Act; whether those provisions were sufficient to prevent companies taking advantage of their market power to lessen competition in the telecommunications market; and whether alternative arrangements were appropriate. The public inquiry also looked at areas such as whether the provisions of these Acts should be appealed or amended.