ACCC invites feedback on NBN Co’s proposal to expand remit


news The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has published a consultation paper inviting feedback on NBN Co’s proposed variation to the way it provides services over the national broadband network.

The company’s remit is set out in the Special Access Undertaking (SAU) – an important part of the framework for governing prices and other terms by which NBN Co will provide services to retailers until 2040.

NBN Co lodged a proposed variation to the SAU with the ACCC on 27 May, according to a statement from the commission.

The consultation paper details the main changes NBN Co seeks to make to the undertaking and highlights other issues on which the ACCC is inviting feedback.

According to the ACCC, the primary changes would be to incorporate fibre-to-the-node (FTTN), fibre-to-the-basement (FTTB) and hybrid-fibre coaxial technologies (HFC) into the undertaking.

NBN Co has proposed that it would expand the service description to reflect these additional technologies, as well as add new clauses to address matters relating to FTTN and FTTB services, and change the “nature and extent” of commitments to report rollout progress information.

“The ACCC is especially interested in receiving feedback on industry’s experience in accessing and re-supplying NBN services to date,” said ACCC Commissioner Roger Featherston.

“Changes to the Special Access Undertaking are needed to accommodate services under the multi-technology NBN model. We want to be sure the commitments in the undertaking continue to promote competition in NBN markets and remain in the long-term interests of consumers,” he said.

The ACCC said stakeholder comments will be important when considering whether the proposed variations to the undertaking meet the legislative requirements.

Following the consultation process, the ACCC must decide whether to accept or reject the proposed variation to the SAU according to the criteria set out in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

The closing date for feedback on NBN Co’s proposed variation is 26 August 2016.

Image credit: NBN Co


  1. Is this something end users can comment on ?

    I don’t understand how the ACCC can allow such a clear scam to NBN pricing model to be legal and passed through. It is no different to any other scam out there.

    How is it that they can offer the same pricing for different technologies and different levels of service, stability and performance ?

    Let’s cut to the chase. The other end of FTTN is still ADSL. They replace the pillar, feed all telephone lines into that. Then run a line of copper to the cabinet. These cabinets require power, and the batteries are known to explode.

    The service level for this is exactly like ADSL. It will need constant patching at the pits and pillar exactly what people suffer with now ? Not only do the cabinets get installed in flood levels the pits also become waterlogged. Therefore massive downtime.

    Nobody on FTTN currently can ever reach constant 100 so how come they are offering it to them with a fine print ? That is the same offering as ADSL so nothing has changed really. They just extended the exchange closer, they are mini ADSL exchanges.

    By the time they are done with their sabotage, it needs to be replaced ?

    This is not what I call a fair pricing model. People paying a premium for ADSL as if it is fibre and paying more for less ?

    I’ve seen speed tests of what people are getting and it’s atrocious try 14/4. People already complaining of downtime like 5 days , and congestion. This is exactly why I was forced to move away from faulty telephone lines to cable.

    Let’s move onto HFC now. It is not fibre, it will perform better than telephone lines. However it doesn’t matter how much they try to negate capacity it’s going to fall over. That is the nature of HFC. It doesn’t even have an upgrade path to fibre so keeping major economy metro areas on HFC for decades more is a bit of a joke.

    HFC does go down for me quite regularly. Over the years I have suffered pretty significant downtimes of between 3-5 days at a time. Unable to get any work done. Completely hopeless and unproductive. This is another major issue of concern.

    I am enjoying a constant 100mbs right now in fact I can get 115mbps out of it, I get what I pay for. However as soon as the entire area is forced to join it, paying double for their internet I cannot imagine I will get that for long.

    Add to that the mass amount of apartments going up in the area. If they are even occupied adding more population to the area is going to make that HFC really grind to a halt.

    This is not a functional broadband network. People were supposed to get the same connection and same level of service. That was not to be replaced for decades rather than a few years to get the Liberals through another term. Short term gains at the cost of a long lifecycle project like this.

    So bottom line, if you don’t get what you pay for you pay less. Different technologies require different pricing. They need to treat FTTN as an ADSL connection and HFC as HFC. Like we currently suffer with and still charge a fortune for.

    This faulty copper is worth next to nothing and not adequate for business. So this new plan is basically just scamming people. They will be paying high premiums for very faulty and unstable internet so not much has changed.

    I personally may be forced to move into a FTTN area. Not by choice simply I cannot afford any area with HFC.

    These grubs need to get it together and work out pricing for paying to extend the fibre connection ? They have already extorted businesses into 10k installs I believe ? That is 10 years worth of internet bills.

    They also need to be clear of who is paying what. ie the power for the cabinets, the maintenance. IF I pay say $5000 to get a proper connection I don’t believe I am entitled to pay in my bill for either the copper maintenance or the power for this abomination cabinets which can also be the cause of downtime.

  2. And another one for the ACCC.

    They need to stop marketing the NBN as superfast. That is a scam. They also can’t scam people into false information that their crappy insecure AC wif routers will speed boost their faulty connections. These terms need to be scrapped from the marketing.

  3. The NBN and ACCC under the Telecommunications Act has crippled the Carrier market for the next 20 years…
    No carrier wants to spend money on infrastructure in this country, because they are hamstrung by Government backroom deal stitch ups such as the “Superfast” NBN clause in the Telecommunications Act…

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