Telstra has set out how it will offer equivalent services to other telcos, as it seeks competition regulator approval for its broadband network deal with the government.
The nation’s largest telco submitted new structural separation undertakings (SSU) to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Friday.
The new SSU included a clause which specified that services to wholesale customers be equivalent to the comparable retail services Telstra provided.
This “overarching equivalence commitment” covered pricing, technical and operational quality, operational systems, procedures and processes used in the supply of the service, Telstra said.
Telstra submitted an SSU in July that the ACCC did not accept because there was no compliance plan for the structural separation of its retail and wholesale arms from 2018.
Telstra said the new SSU was clarified to note that it did not “constrain the ACCC’s powers to a greater extent than provided by law”.
The telco also offered further options for the resolution of equivalence complaints, as well as further commitments on transparency and reporting to the ACCC.
Telstra’s deal with the federal government and NBN Co received shareholder approval last month.
NBN Co is the government-funded company charged with building and operating the national broadband network.
Telstra told shareholders they would be entitled to another vote on the deal should the outcome of negotiations with the ACCC result in material changes.
The telco said on Friday the revised SSU did not require another vote.
Some rival telcos had expressed concerns the SSU did not provide all industry players with a level playing field once the NBN was rolled out.
Telstra said it would ensure staff with line management responsibilities at a retail business unit would not have responsibilities for a wholesale business unit or network services business unit.
This would not apply to the chief executive, chief operating officer, or any person in a role approved by the ACCC.
Under the deal with NBN Co, Telstra will progressively decommission its copper-based network and allow NBN Co to access its pits, manholes and exchanges, and sell some infrastructure.
In return, Telstra will receive $11 billion from the federal government, with the financial benefits to come over a 30-year period.
In a statement on Friday, the ACCC said it was likely to accept the updated SSU, once some regulatory concerns regarding wholesale ADSL services had been addressed.
The ACCC said it was considering a public inquiry into wholesale ADSL services.
“Provided that the outstanding concerns around wholesale ADSL can be quickly resolved, the ACCC is otherwise minded to accept the undertaking,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.
The ACCC said it would announce its final SSU decision in February.
The deadline for the two parties to reach agreement, which had been December 20, was extended.
Telstra’s discussions with the ACCC was the last step for the $11 billion transaction to be completed.
Telstra shares fell four cents, or 1.2 per cent, to close at $3.23, as the broader market fell by around 1.7 per cent.
