ACCAN has made a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) on its investigation of TPG Telecom Limited’s (TPG) proposed merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited (VHA).

ACCAN is supportive of the proposed merger as it is likely to lead to more sustainable competition with a positive effect for consumers in the Australian telecommunications market. 

 ACCAN is of the view that the merger is likely to lead to an improvement in competition. Competition improves consumer outcomes by providing incentives for service providers to offer consumers greater choice of services, at lower prices and provide better customer service. ACCAN is concerned that there is unlikely to be any new mobile providers due to the high cost of providing services. This is less of a concern in the fixed line market where there is the NBN as the wholesale provider. Without a strong, and sustainable third mobile network operator, Telstra and Optus could potentially increase prices. Australian consumers experienced less competition when Vodafone was weakened following its substantial network issues and subsequent customer losses. 

Download: ACCAN submission to ACCC - Vodafone/TPG merger836.85 KB

Download:  ACCAN submission to ACCC - Vodafone/TPG merger1016.52 KB