The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced the interim pricing terms for access seekers to Telstra's (ASX:TLS) copper networks.
The Interim Access Determinations (IADs) have been designed to serve as a benchmark for Telstra and potential wholesale customers to fall back on when negotiating terms, ACCC said.
The price for a single ULLS in CBD, metropolitan and regional areas has been set to $16 per month. Prices had previously ranged from $6.60 per month for CBDs to $31.30 per month for regional areas.
In the most remote rural areas, the indicative access price goes up to $48.00.
Indicative wholesale prices for line rental have been cut by over $3, while use of the Local Carriage Service has been slashed to to 9.1 cents per call from 17 cents..
The prices have been backdated to January 1 – the date the new telecom access regime came into effect – and will expire at the end of the year or when final access determinations are set.
ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said the terms serve only as a guideline for when no commercial agreement between Telstra and the access seeker can be reached.
“While parties are still able to negotiate their own terms and conditions, the [IADs] establish a benchmark for Telstra and access seekers to fall back on when negotiating terms and conditions.”
But he noted that the new draft terms represent a “major shift in our approach to pricing these services” - one that has the support of the industry.
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Summary – Previous
indicative prices compared with IAD prices to apply from |
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ULLS access prices with averaged prices |
Previous indicative prices |
IAD prices |
|
Band 1 |
$6.60 |
$16.00 |
|
Band 2 |
$16.00 |
$16.00 |
|
Band 3 |
$31.30 |
$16.00 |
|
Band 4 |
|
$48.00 |
|
WLR (per line per month) |
$25.57 (Homeline) |
$22.10 |
|
|
$2.50 |
$1.80 |
|
PSTN OA and TA (per minute) |
1c (headline rate) |
1.0c |
|
LCS (per call) |
17c |
9.1c |