ACCC settles backhaul price regulation
Down, not up
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced a new – lower – price for regulated backhaul services sold with Telstra's wholesale ADSL.
The ongoing inquiry into AGVC (aggregated virtual circuit) prices had previously proposed an increase in the service price, to $AU36.08 per megabit per second, per month. ISPs and their lawyers had objected to the AVGC proposal on the basis that it would raise costs to their customers.
The final access determination – FAD – puts the AGVC cost at $AU32.31 per Mbps per month, with metro ADSL ports to cost $AU24.44 per month (down from $AU25.40) and regional ports at $AU29.66 per month (down from $AU30.80).
The regulator cited “updated information received in the inquiry about use of the service” as its reason for reducing the price.
“The ACCC regulates wholesale ADSL services to help ensure consumers and businesses have a choice in the provision broadband services,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in the regulator's statement.
“The wholesale price set in the Final Access Determination provides certainty to industry participants, which in turn benefits customers by promoting competition and allowing a range of broadband services to be offered over Telstra’s copper network.” ®
