5 April 2012: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has commenced a public inquiry into varying the fixed line final access determinations. Telstra has requested that the ACCC vary the final access determinations (FADs) for the declared wholesale line rental (WLR), local carriage service (LCS) and a subset of the public switched telephone network originating access service (PSTN OA) called preselect and override services. Telstra is required to provide access for competitors to these declared services. Telstra has requested relief until March 2013 from providing this access, where the services are typically supplied in newly developed estates (greenfields) using the national broadband network (NBN). There is no existing copper telecommunications infrastructure in a greenfields estate.
Telstra made this request based on its temporary technical inability to provide access to a wholesale voice service over the NBN in greenfield estates until at least September 2012. At that time, Telstra proposes to make its mass market wholesale and retail NBN services available. However, Telstra has requested that the ACCC provide regulatory relief for 12 months to accommodate any unforeseen delays in launching these services. Telstra expects that this issue will impact a small number of end-users in NBN greenfield estates. Although end-users in these estates may have access to voice services supplied by alternate retail service providers.
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