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Oz competition regulator seeks input on ending wholesale ADSL declaration

NBN is likely to make the service obsolete. If the clown-show gets it built

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is considering whether the eventual advent of the National Broadband Network (NBN) means wholesale DSL regulation can be retired.

Wholesale ADSL – that is, where a reseller is taking the service from an infrastructure owner like Telstra, and adding their own billing – was first declared in 2012. The service declaration meant anybody offering such a wholesale service did so at regulated prices.

The 2012 declaration expires in February 2017, and as with all service declarations, the ACCC has to conduct a review before that date.

The two big questions are whether regulation of the service is needed in a post-NBN Australia; and if the regulation is to be retired, when that should happen. The ACCC suggests 2019 as the sunset date for regulation.

The inquiry does not include declaration of infrastructure such as unbundled local loop (ULL) services, which are used by Telstra's competitors (such as TPG) to deliver broadband on their own DSLAMs (DSL access multiplexers).

The inquiry is here, with submissions due by July 29. ®

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