Submissions
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ACCAN has made a submission to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) 2016 stakeholder consultation on "Access to the Internet for persons with disabilities and specific needs". Drawing from the ongoing work and research we undertake to promote full participation of people with disability in our increasingly connected society, we have made a number of specific recommendations on how access to the internet can be increased for people with disability.
Read more: Access to the internet for persons with disabilities and specific needs
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The Productivity Commission is looking at Australia's intellectual property system to make sure there are the right incentives for innovation, investment and the production of creative works. The aim is that these protections for intellectual property owners' don't unreasonably stop consumers benefiting from innovation, competition, investment and access to goods and services.
Read more: Productivity Commission Inquiry into Australia's Intellectual Property Arrangements
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ACCAN responded to the ACMA's review of the Captioning Standard for live broadcasts. We recommended that the ACMA undertake research to establish current and possible metrics for accuracy levels and synchronisation of captions with the video for live broadcasts on Australian television. ACCAN asserts that this will allow stakeholders to make informed recommendations on how the ACMA should evaluate the quality of captions for live television broadcasts.
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Superfast Broadband Access Services (SBAS) are networks that provide broadband that is capable of achieving 25Mbps or greater download speeds. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is inquiring whether there is a case to regulate these networks. Premises served by one network can limit consumers' services and number of providers.
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The administrator of the .au domain space, .au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA), established a Panel of stakeholders to review the major Australian domain name policies and invited interested stakeholders to submit on in April 2015. This submission is in response to the latest round of consultation on the Draft Recommendations of the Panel.
Read more: Should .au be open to direct registrations? Draft Recommendations
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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.
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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.
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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.
Read more: Review of the Australian Communications and Media Authority
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The International Mobile Roaming Standard requires mobile service providers to warn consumers about usage costs and limits when they use their mobile phones overseas. Since the introduction of the Standard consumer complaints have dramatically reduced. However, industry has proposed to remove key aspects of the Standard.