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Are CVCs “evil, stupid and counterproductive”?

NBN pricing is back under the microscope with attacks from industry heavy weights like iinet’s Chief Technology Officer, Mark Dioguardi, and serial telco entrepreneur Bevan Slattery who recently called CVCs “evil, stupid and counterproductive”.

This column looks at the challenges for CVC pricing posed by iinet in the context of increased video streaming.

T o read more, click Economuse 2015-05-14

Will the TPG-iiNet merger kill competition?

If iiNet’s shareholders accept the TPG offer and the ACCC approves this take-over (neither of which is certain), the prospect of vigorous retail competition in the fixed network is dim. The extent of price competition currently is debateable and increased industry concentration is irrefutable.

To read this column, click Economuse 2015-04-01

The next column will examine how the competitive process can still be strengthened, with or without this merger.

 

Who should we fear most – Telstra or NBN Co.?

Two current consultations by the ACCC show a marked difference in the regulator’s treatment of the legacy (Telstra) access network and its treatment of the new broadband network being built by NBN Co.

Both Telstra and NBN Co. are subject to the building block method for calculating allowable revenues (wholesale only in the case of NBN Co.). But in application, the ACCC continues to hammer Telstra while mollycoddling NBN Co.

The ACCC hopes that keeping Telstra’s access prices low will be good for competition and end users. It may be wrong (see reference in the attached to “price competition has stalled”) and it is short sighted. The real issue is the long term affordability of broadband which has been compromised by the regulator’s unusual assent to deferred revenue increases at NBN Co.

The article can be found by clicking Economuse 2015-03-12

Will net neutrality nuke the Internet?

On Thursday, 26 February the FCC voted on a new policy for ensuring net neutrality. This article was written before that decision was published but, with just two dissenting Commissioners, the FCC adopted the President’s plan as described in the article – which you can by clicking  Economuse 2015-02-24

At the same meeting used Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act to over-ride legislation in two states (but others will follow) that stopped broadband competition from public corporations. The dilemma was examined in a major thought piece two years ago which compared case that the FCC has just looked at with the NBN in Australia as originally set-up – using guidelines that are used in Europe to balance private and public investment in broadband – you can see this paper by clicking SNG White Paper on State Aid, October 2012