AAPT chief executive Paul Broad has called on the government to boost the competition regulator's power to rein in both Telstra and Optus from moves he claimed were stifling competition in the fixed line and broadband markets.
It is easy to point the finger at Telstra, but Optus is equally culpable for the role it has played in prohibiting a competitive environment
AAPT CEO Paul Broad
The comments came as AAPT made a submission in response to the government's Regulatory reform for 21st Century Broadband discussion paper. AAPT has proposed greater power for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to declare services and set prices and access terms.
"It is unacceptable that businesses and consumers either suffer extensive delays in moving their services from Optus to a competitor, or cannot move at all, simply because there is no regulated process. It is easy to point the finger at Telstra, but Optus is equally culpable for the role it has played in prohibiting a competitive environment," said Broad.
Broad called on the government to "enhance the power of the ACCC" so it can impose greater transparency on the costs that second tier telcos face.
"The industry lacks simple governing rules and transparency. We believe it is absolutely necessary to enhance the power of the ACCC if a truly competitive market is to prosper," Broad said. "For example, it would be interesting to see what value Telstra's retail division would derive if it was regulated to pay the same price for services as AAPT is charged by Telstra's wholesale division."
Broad complained that it was almost impossible for it to compete for customers of Telstra BigPond and Optus' retail division because the incumbent provider would, through gamesmanship, make it too difficult for customers to swap services.
The submission also claimed AAPT faces problems in building competing infrastructure into telephone exchanges.
AAPT's submission is one of dozens expected. The discussion paper, in the lead-up to the government's $43 billion National Broadband Network, is set to play a key role in determining the future of the telecommunications industry.
Telstra has remained quiet on the issue and stands to lose the most if Optus achieves its long-held goal to split Telstra's wholesale and retail divisions — in a large part to boost Optus' play in Australia's fixed line market.
"At the heart of the problem lies the vertical integration of Telstra, an oversight of the 1997 Telecommunications Act which we argue needs to be rectified if we are ever to have true competition in the Australian fixed line market," Maha Krishnapillai, Optus' director of Government and Corporate Affairs, said today of its submission.
"Twelve years after the telecommunications market was opened up to competition, Telstra continues to dominate the fixed line market, taking over 70 per cent of fixed line revenues and an even greater share of the fixed line profit pool," he added.
The Competitive Carriers Coalition, which includes Hutchison, Macquarie, Verizon Business, PowerTel, Primus, TransACT, iiNet and Agile Communications has called for the separation of Telstra's wholesale and retail arms, but went a step further, according to executive director David Forman, by also calling for the separation of Telstra's hybrid fibre-coaxial network and its share in the Foxtel cable network.
"We want the government to give the ACCC not just stronger powers but clearer direction about using anti-competitive conduct powers," Forman told ZDNet.com.au.
Today's submissions follow 82 previously received under the initial NBN proposal, which revealed a widespread dissatisfaction with the current regulatory regime.
I have pleaded with Bigpond to provide services at prices more like those that i can obtain from its competitors.
Their response is so limp that it cold not hold water.
It makes me more likely, when my fixed contract runs out in 4 months, to go to a competitor, and save up to $ 30.00 per month for a faster service.
I would have thought that with new Management, a fresh breeze might go through the Company, enabling customers of more than 40 years, to enjoy some benefits.
Apparently not so, as i now have sent off a third reply, requesting a new set of Plans, or plan which despite the monopoly, other ISP's can offer.