Telstra, the Australian incumbent, has submitted a revised structural separation plan to Australian regulator ACCC. The regulator said a final decision on the matter is scheduled for February 2012.
Telstra said that the revised proposal addresses…
Telstra, the Australian incumbent, has submitted a revised structural separation plan to Australian regulator ACCC. The regulator said a final decision on the matter is scheduled for February 2012.
Telstra said that the revised proposal addresses concerns raised earlier by the antitrust authority.
If accepted by the ACCC, “it will mean we avoid the costs and complexity of functional separation, and, as part of the overall NBN [National Broadband Network] transaction, gives us certainty on access to 4G mobile spectrum, our ownership of the HFC network and share of FOXTEL, and our ongoing universal service obligation,” Telstra CEO David Thodey said.
The company said the changes to the initial plan do not constitute a material change with regards to the recent shareholder approval for the structural separation.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said that the regulator welcomes the “substantial revisions and additional commitments”.
But the chairman also noted in a statement that “there are outstanding regulatory concerns in relation to wholesale ADSL services”.
The ACCC would now give “urgent consideration” to initiating a public enquiry into the ADSL issue.
Provided those issues can be resolved quickly, “the ACCC is otherwise minded to accept the undertaking, subject to any new issues of real substance or drafting matters arising in course of this final round of consultation,” Sims said.
