Telstra’s pricing demands halted

Local ISP, iiNet has welcomed the decision by the Australian Competition Tribunal to reject Telstra’s proposed monthly Line Sharing Service (LSS).

The Federal Court Tribunal rejected Telstra’s proposed monthly price of $9 per line for the LSS, reinforcing a previous ruling handed down by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

According to the Tribunal, Telstra’s approach to cost recovery was unreasonable and it should not seek to recover its costs of the LSS from a price that was averaged over a four-year period.

Steve Dalby iiNet GM of regulatory affairs said it was an important win for the continuance of a competitive telecommunications industry.

“The Tribunal’s decision was welcome news, it also strengthened the ACCCs position as Australia’s independent telecommunications umpire,” he said.

“The monthly charge of $9 for the LSS service would have severely disadvantaged Telstra’s wholesale customers, as Telstra had attempted to load the access charge with irrelevant and inappropriate costs and distributed them only to their competitors.”

John Kranenburg, chairman of the Service Providers Association said providers like iiNet, relied on Telstra's fixed lines.

"They need to make continuous investment in infrastructure to keep business costs down - at least not go up," he said.

"What's really hurting [providers] are issues regarding ULL pricing. The government was stalling on making a decision on setting a price and making providers nervous."