Issue No 34: 9 November 2020

Industry Suggests Improvement to ACCC Broadband Monitoring Scheme

Communications Alliance has highlighted problems areas in the ACCC’s industry-funded Measuring Broadband Australian (MBA) program, which is being reviewed as it reaches the end of its four year life.

In a submission to the review, Communications Alliance said that if the Government decided to extend or renew the initiative, it should:

• require greater transparency about the financial operation of the program, given that fewer than half the planned participants were recruited to it, but the budget, levied on telco carriers, appears to have been fully spent.; and
• not expand the program to test other technologies such as fixed wireless and 5G services, where the results would prove to be problematic or of limited value.

Comms Alliance decided to publish its submission to the Review and questioned the ACCC’s decision not to publish all the non-confidential submissions, given the ACCC’s avowed passion for transparency.

Increased Cooperation between Telecommunications and Energy Sectors

Recently, the Telecommunications – Energy Working Group, which was formally established by Communications Alliance and Energy Networks Australia, and their members (following the agreement of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two associations), met for the first time.

The pre-season preparation meeting follows a number of meetings by a similar group of telecommunications and energy providers held during the winter months of 2020.

The meeting was characterised by constructive discussion and evidence of a shared desire to build on the stronger engagement already taking place between the two sectors.

A brief summary of the meeting is available here.