The Federal Government (Department of Communications) is conducting a review of the communications regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Many changes have occurred in communications in the last 10 years, and this pace is set to continue. The review is focused on the objectives, functions, structure, governance and resourcing needed for a future communications regulator to remain relevant and fit for purpose.

The ACCC proposes to publish some of the information it collects as part of its regulatory oversight of nbn and Telstra. The information would provide an insight into the wholesale market, such as the number of services active by provider, technology, area and speed.

Mixed experiences from consumers from the migration to NBN have led to the Department of Communication creating a Migration Assurance Plan. The plan sets out the framework for migration from legacy networks to the NBN in the fixed footprint (it does not apply to areas receiving fixed wireless and satellite). During the four stages; serviceability, product availability, end user awareness and management and installation and activation, the plan outlines the expected information sharing and roles and responsibilities for all the parties involved.

Infrastructure Australia is tasked with producing a 15 year national Infrastructure Plan. In order to produce this they first set out to conduct an audit report. The Audit identified the key challenges which need to be addressed in the plan. Telecommunications infrastructure was one element examined by the audit.

The first communities which switched to the NBN fixed network experienced a number of issues. One issue was that some consumers were disconnected from their existing network while waiting for an NBN service to be activated, leaving them without services. To resolve this, and prevent its recurrence in the next planned switch over areas, additional time before disconnection of existing connections has been proposed. The ACCC also asked whether the additional time should be applied more generally to other areas or for known 'hard to reach' premises with complications, such as those with alarms.

The Regional Telecommunications Review is the only review that examines horizontal, or geographic, equity in telecommunications services and so is of value to consumers.

The timing of the 2015 review creates its own challenges, as two large infrastructure projects, namely the Mobile Black Spots Programme and the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN), are still in motion. It is difficult to predict what gaps will still exist going forward. In our submission ACCAN has tried to outline issues that it sees are persistent. Furthermore we have made suggestions on how these might be addressed.

What is the IPND?

The Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) is a database that contains records of all Australian telephone numbers and associated customer details. It is managed by Telstra under the Carrier Licence Conditions, and is an important source of information for emergency and law enforcement purposes.

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