accc proceedings against telstra for breach

ACCC INSTITUTES PROCEEDINGS AGAINST TELSTRA FOR ALLEGED
BREACH OF STANDARD ACCESS OBLIGATIONS
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in
the Federal Court in Melbourne against Telstra Corporation Limited for alleged
contraventions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) and the Telecommunications
Act 1997 (Telco Act) in relation to its standard access obligations for the
Unconditioned Local Loop Service (ULLS) and Line Sharing Service (LSS).
The standard access obligations under section 152AR of the TPA require Telstra to
permit interconnection of facilities to enable the supply of the ULLS and the LSS to
access seekers, so they can provide voice and/or ADSL2+ broadband services to
retail customers. In addition, Telstra must ensure that access seekers receive
equivalent technical and operational quality and timing of interconnection to that
which Telstra provides itself.
The ACCC alleges that Telstra has refused access seeker requests for
interconnection at seven key metropolitan exchanges by claiming that they were
"capped". In particular, Telstra claimed that there was no capacity on the main
distribution frames available for access seekers to interconnect their equipment to
the copper wires running to customer homes. The ACCC alleges that there was
capacity available, or that could have been made available, on Telstra's main
distribution frames.
The ACCC also alleges that Telstra has breached the access regime in the Telco Act
which requires Telstra to provide access to its facilities. Both the standard access
obligations and the access regime in the Telco Act are conditions of Telstra's carrier
licence.
It is also alleged that Telstra has engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in
contravention of section 52 of the TPA, by representing to access seekers
individually and on lists of "capped" exchanges published on the Telstra Wholesale
website.
The ACCC is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties and injunctions.
This matter has been listed for a directions hearing in the Federal Court, Melbourne
at 10.15 a.m. on Friday, 17 April 2009 before Justice Middleton.
NR 53/09
19 March 2009