1998 asks to speak to Turnbull about local calls

In its relentless search for regulations that impose unnecessary compliance costs on industry, the federal government is considering scrapping untimed local telephone calls in Australia, again.

“Again”, because the last time retail price controls were raised was in 2014, when the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) made the same suggestion.

At that time, the ACMA estimated that Telstra (2014 income AU$26.3 billion) was groaning under the heel of $100,000 of compliance costs in delivering untimed local calls for 22 cents.

Now, Sydney's Daily Telegraph has received a pre-budget Sunday distraction that the notion is back on the table.

The drop claims that the move would “put millions of dollars back into the pockets of the big tech companies” (see above), but that any such move would depend on the industry presenting evidence supporting the removal of the requirement.

The rationale is that call bundling is making retail price controls redundant.

The government offered the Tele a pinky promise that the move would not be pursued if it hurt consumers. It didn't say whether the cost of drafting, debating, passing and implementing the legislation would be more than the $0.0001 billion the policy now costs Telstra. ®