nbn should eventually be split up: ACCC chair

The company building the National Broadband Network, nbn, should put in place arrangements to eventually split up into separate companies that can compete with one another, according to ACCC chairman Rod Sims.

Sims made the remarks in a wide-ranging speech at the ACCAN National Conference in Sydney on Tuesday.

He said he is on record as advocating for nbn to implement measures to facilitate future infrastructure-based competition.

To encourage such competition, nbn should prepare for the future separation of the company, Sims said. The separate businesses could compete in areas including delivery technology.

The ACCC’s role in regulating the telecom market focuses on pursuing the long-term interests of end users, he noted. Since the industry was opened to competition, the average real price of fixed and mobile voice services has fallen by around 50%, with the effective price per GB of broadband services falling from around $30 in 2007 to less than $1 today.

Sims said the ACCC’s approach to setting access pricing must keep prices low for consumers while insuring prices aren’t so low as to deter investment by operators.

He also advocated for the introduction of a broadband performance and monitoring program, stating that the ACCC has been investigating the introduction of such a program since late 2013.

“A broadband performance and monitoring program would promote competition and consumer outcomes by providing transparency over the quality of broadband services that are on offer to consumers,” Sims said.

“Consumers need this information to help them select the most appropriate service for their needs and to confirm they are likely to be getting the service for which they are paying.”

Image courtesy of Scott Lewis under CC