ACCC cuts broadband prices in draft rulingUpdated 1 hour 40...

ACCC cuts broadband prices in draft ruling

Updated 1 hour 40 minutes ago
Map: Australia

The competition regulator is planning to reduce the prices for companies to access Telstra's broadband internet network during the transition to the National Broadband Network.

In a draft report, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has lowered the prices Telstra can charge retailers to access its fixed-line copper network by just under a dollar a month.

The wholesale ADSL price for most CBD and metropolitan areas will be $24.56 per user, down from $25.40, if the draft final access determination is implemented unchanged.

The charge per user in most regional and rural areas will decline from $30.80 to $29.81 per month.

The current, higher interim prices will apply until the ACCC releases its final access determination (FAD).

The lower FAD prices will apply from that date, expected sometime before August, until the end of June next year.

That is the same date as regulated prices for other declared fixed-line services expire, allowing the ACCC to set all the regulated wholesale fixed-line prices at the same time.

/abc.net.au