| :: Creating opportunities for Communications Alliance recently hosted a series of three industry briefings in Sydney and Melbourne. The subject of all briefings centred on current telecommunications industry initiatives undertaken by the Australian Competition and Consumers Commission (ACCC), who also delivered the presentations. The series began with two briefings offered in Sydney and Melbourne entitled “A promise is nothing until it’s delivered” and focussed on the ACCC discussion paper Broadband Internet Speed Claims and the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) issued in January 2007. The third briefing provided information on the Fixed Services Review and the Unconditioned Local Loop Service (ULLS) Declaration Variation Inquiry currently being undertaken by the ACCC. The key theme for the Broadband Internet Speed Claims and the Trade Practices Act 1974 briefings was to educate ISPs of their obligations when advertising broadband services to ensure that any details regarding speed claims are neither false nor misleading to customers. The ACCC reported that there have been instances where ISP advertising refers to maximum download speeds as being available to all users, however, a fraction of users would actually be able to enjoy the advertised speed. This could be due to a number of factors such as the length of copper wire from the exchange to premises, the amount and type of other services in operation over the copper wire, customer hardware or software, or even the type of website being downloaded. Claims about accessible speeds which are made without reasonable basis are potentially false and misleading and could be in breach of Section 52 of the TPA. The ACCC explained that the use of hypothetical and maximum speed claims should be avoided. In particular headline claims such as “Broadband up to 24Mbps” and plan names such as “Our 24000/1000kbps Super Plan” could fall foul of the TPA if they cannot be substantiated. Alternative wording should be used that describes typical speeds and the most likely customer experience when signing up to a service. The third briefing took place on Friday 1 June in Sydney and focussed on two current ACCC inquiries: The briefing was organised to help foster an informed and robust consultative process and to speak to the principles which the Commission will apply in its forward-looking proposals for these issues. The briefing provided information on the key issues and implications of each inquiry with regard to the long term interests of end-users, certainty to industry on the approach being taken by the ACCC and information on the timing of future reviews. Both briefings were well attended with positive feedback that the content was useful and informative. Communications Alliance will continue to provide industry briefings on topical issues to ensure that all members, and the industry as a whole, receive timely, reliable, and accurate information on all relevant issues. Submissions in response to the ACCC papers are due on 15 and 30 June respectively. Communications Alliance will assist participants who do not intend to lodge individual submissions but would like their views to be conveyed to the inquiries by acting as a conduit for comments. A single document collating all such views will be prepared and submitted to the inquiries but will not purport to be the position of Communications Alliance. If you would like your view to be heard through this mechanism, could you please email d.oconnor@commsalliance.com.au. Deborah O’Connor |
