The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is seeking feedback on a record-keeping regulation (RKR) that addresses the effectiveness of NBN Co’s network and the calibre of its services.
The RKR is being designed for NBN Co. as well as with an eye toward a similar rule for competitors covered by its 2016 superfast broadband access service statement, according to the competition authority.
The ACCC stated in its consultation paper that an RKR would “improve operational reporting between NBN Co and retailers, along with greater public transparency of NBN service quality, will improve outcomes for end-users over time and reduce overall costs relating to the management of faults and outages.”
According to the ACCC, the components of service quality and network performance that should be addressed by an RKR include appointments, network outages and speed performance, reimbursements for not meeting service levels, and corrective action taken by NBN Co.
The survey also addresses the subscriber level at which a competitor’s broadband infrastructure provider should likewise be subject to such an RKR.
The performance of NBN Co. has long been a source of contention for retailers.
Earlier this year, Telstra complained about “planned outages” on the NBN Co. network and a purported failure by NBN Co. to fulfil service level goals such a 10-day resolution in a submission to the ACCC’s Special Access Undertaking probe.
In a revision of its special access undertaking, which is also currently before the ACCC, NBN Co is proposing to incorporate minimum service criteria for the first time.
Prior to this, the only commercial contract with internet service providers that contained service criteria was the wholesale broadband agreement (WBA), the specifics of which were mostly kept confidential.
