On 14 May 2020, the Australian Parliament passed the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Bill 2019 and the Telecommunications (Regional Broadband Scheme) Charge Bill 2019 (Reform Legislation), marking the introduction of landmark telecommunications reforms. The legislation requires that all Australians have access to broadband services from a ‘statutory infrastructure provider’, and requires all larger fixed line broadband network operators serving metropolitan Australia to contribute to the cost of broadband in regional and remote Australia.
The Reform Legislation ensures that all Australian households have access to a broadband provider, with the National Broadband Network designated as the default broadband provider. The Reform Legislation comes as part of the government’s plans for a Universal Service Guarantee, providing a peak speed of at least 25 Mbps to Australian homes and businesses regardless of their location.
The reforms were passed as the Australian Government called for submissions on a program aimed at facilitating access to voice services for remote and regional consumers. On 15 May 2020, the Australian Government published draft guidelines for the “Alternative Voice Services Trials” program (Program) and called for submissions, which are now under review. The Program will assess the effectiveness of different technology options and search for new ways to deliver voice telephone services to rural and remote Australians.
Submissions on the Program closed on 2 June 2020 and are now under review. For further information, please see the consultation draft here and please see the Reform Legislation here and here for more details about the legislation.
Australia – Parliament passes landmark telecommunications reforms on broadband services
