The ACCC is planning to remove its own regulatory control from Telstra in regards to wholesale local call pricing in Central Business Districts throughout major cities in Australia, claiming there is enough robust competition in these areas.
Telecommunications expert Paul Budde described the ACCC's draft decision as -disappointing", saying that the regulatory body is in a good position to leverage Telstra's proposal against giving up its local call dominance throughout the rest of Australia.
-The ACCC could use it as a bargaining [tool] to get other things out of Telstra that it is stalling on, it shouldn't give it away like that," Budde said.
Furthermore, Budde said competition in CBD areas is extremely limited to a few hundred buildings, -it is totally overstated to say there is competition".
In an earlier report, the ACCC told ZDNet Australia there is a whole raft of carriers largely serving big business, which have installed their own infrastructure in the cities.
Primus telecommunications spokesperson George Hazim described the proposal as a -farce", saying that if it goes through, it will fly in the face of competition.
-It appears, whatever Telstra wants, Telstra gets and this is just another example of it getting its own way," he said.
Optus also expressed concern over deregulation of wholesale local call pricing in CBD areas, saying that its implementation would be -premature".
AAPT told ZDNet Australia that it hasn't had enough time to evaluate the draft decision, however, a spokesperson said the carrier is taking into consideration that if implemented, it would take one year for the proposal to take effect, and that the ACCC would continue to monitor Telstra's behaviour in these markets for anti-competitive behaviour.
More regulation is needed as Telstra has shown over and over that they will abuse the system whenever Telstra has the slightest opportunity to do so.
Telstra is not known for ethical business practices.