First they screwed the nation by privatising our telecommunications
infrastructure. Then they screwed us again by sabotaging the NBN (which
is no more than a project to repair some of the harm done by privatisation).
Lives depend on communication. Business, health and education (among
others) depend on communications. We shouldn't need a USO. Equitable
access to services is a government responsibility. Time to take back our
network.
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-06/productivity-commission-recommendation-scrap-landline-guarantee/8097292#>
By Anna Vidot
Updated yesterday at 4:41pm
The Productivity Commission says a national policy guaranteeing
landline telephone access for all Australians is "anachronistic and
needs to change".
But its draft report has stopped short of recommending a new baseline
guarantee for access to broadband internet, instead noting the
National Broadband Network already aims to provide that service to all
Australian premises.
The Telecommunications Universal Service Obligation was introduced in
the 1990s, to ensure all Australians maintained "reasonable access" to
a phone line after the industry was deregulated.
Some rural Australians have called for the USO to be extended to
include baseline access to mobile phone and internet coverage.
But while the Productivity Commission called for legislation to make
"explicit" NBN's role "as a universal provider of wholesale broadband
services", it has not called for a new, broader guarantee to internet
a particular level of internet access.
Instead, the agency said government should avoid a national, one-size
fits all guarantee in the mould of the TUSO, and focus instead on the
gaps left in services once the National Broadband rollout is completed
in 2020.
"Once rolled out to all Australians, the NBN will be the foundation on
which a future broadband-based telecommunications universal service
policy should be built," Commissioner Paul Lindwall said in a statement.
"A completed NBN, which provides broadband and voice services to all
Australians, will make the current TUSO obsolete."
Rural telco advocates call for community to get involved
Georgie Somerset, chair of Queensland farm lobby Agforce's
telecommunications committee, welcomed the report's central finding:
that the USO is out of date and should be changed.
But she said rural advocates were of the firm belief that a minimum
internet service should be guaranteed, and urged communities to make
those views known to the commission as it sought public comment.
The Productivity Commission will hold a series of public hearings
early in the new year and accept public submissions until January 20,
before providing a final report to the Federal Government in April.
"We think that people should have some sort of guarantee around
broadband access," Mrs Somerset said.
"One of things in this report is they are saying that if that was to
be in place, they're not sure what that should look like or how much
data that would be, and how much speed.
"This is an opportunity for industry to come in and say 'we absolutely
need this, and this is why, and what we would absolutely expect to have'."
Telcos consider draft report
Under the existing USO, the government and other telcos provide
Telstra with about $300 million each year for its copper phone lines
and payphone network.
A spokesman for Telstra said in a statement that the company is the
single largest contributor of funds to that network, and will take its
time to "properly consider" the implications of the commission's "very
thorough" draft report.
"Telstra supports many of the points raised by the Commission and we
remain supportive of changes to the USO if they improve the experience
for customers in delivering a universal service," the statement said.
"We support the Commission's view that the Government should consider
whether the ongoing payphone obligation is delivering the best value
to Australian consumers and communities.
"A transition to NBN becoming the wholesale Universal Service Provider
requires them to be operating a truly national network capable of
delivering a good quality voice service on demand, something that
would not be possible at the moment.
"We need to make sure that we fully understand the impacts this could
have on customers before taking any action that could see remote
customers left without a reliable service."
The company's competitors have long argued against the USO
arrangement, and welcomed the Productivity Commission's draft
recommendation that it be scrapped.
In a statement, Vodafone chief strategy office Dan Lloyd said the
report's "damning set of findings and practical set of
recommendations" should be adopted by government immediately.
"The report has, for the first time, shed light on the USO
arrangements, which have not placed any accountability obligations on
Telstra," he said.
"It is especially damning of the USO's lack of transparency,
highlighting there are no requirements for Telstra to report on the
number of non-commercial phone services it provides or the costs of
services supplied under the USO."
--
David Boxall | "Cheer up" they said.
| "Things could be worse."
http://david.boxall.id.au | So I cheered up and,
| Sure enough, things got worse.
| --Murphy's musing
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