Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, through you. I understand. On 6 August this year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the ACCC—

which is what I'm discussing now, thank you for your assistance—released its draft final access determination and associated cost modelling for declared voice interconnection services. This determination includes fixed terminating access service, fixed originating access service and mobile terminating access service.

Fixed terminating access service covers the cost of terminating a call to a fixed number, while mobile terminating access service applies to mobile calls. Together, they make up the voice usage component of a phone service. When a customer on one network calls a customer on another, a regulated fee applies for the handover of the call.

The ACCC's draft report proposes a 75.6 per cent reduction in fixed terminating access service rates and a 24.4 per cent reduction in mobile terminating access service rates, effective 1 January 2026. Our telecommunications fixed voice networks continue to play a critical role in national communications infrastructure, providing redundancy during mobile outages, supporting emergency call systems and underpinning essential services in health, enterprise and government. The communities most at risk of being impacted are those in regional and remote areas. What a surprise! Some challenger and fixed-only providers—and by this I may be smaller end of town, not Telstra, Optus or TPG but Aussie Broadband, Symbio and the like—have expressed to me their concern that the proposed reductions and non-price provisions could undermine service continuity, competition and investment in these essential networks. It is really important, given the current state of our telecommunications sector, that all providers, particularly smaller providers, are able to sustain themselves in the market. They feel that this inquiry would go a long way to testing the viability, transparency and cost implications of these changes before they are enacted.

As detailed in the motion, we propose the inquiry look specifically at the cost modelling inputs and assumptions used by the ACCC, including the framing and definition of 'modern efficient operator', the treatment of fixed-only versus integrated mobile/fixed operators, the exclusion of key cost components, such as transmission and backhaul to points of interconnect, and the assumptions regarding economies of scale and technology mix. We also request that the committee review the discrepancy between fixed and mobile termination rates, including the rationale for the differential rate reductions between fixed originating access service and mobile terminating access service. Before any change is enacted we must look at the implications of this discrepancy for market neutrality and regulatory consistency.

As I foreshadowed earlier, investigating the impact of these changes on the telecommunications industry is vital, particularly the financial and operational impact on fixed-only voice providers, including potential revenue loss, cost recovery challenges and investment disincentives. It is imperative that we understand any flow-on impacts of these changes, not only on the industry but, more importantly, on everyday Australians. There are likely to be broader implications for wholesale and retail providers, which has the potential of resulting in operator consolidation or the withdrawal of smaller providers from the market. There is no competition when smaller providers have to leave the market. We know all too well that, where there are flow-on effects for businesses, there are flow-on effect for Australians.

We ask the House Standing Committee on Communications, the Arts and Sports to investigate the likely consequences for end-user pricing, service availability and quality, particularly in regional, rural and vulnerable communities. In parallel, the committee should also review the impact on enterprise, government and emergency services that rely on fixed voice infrastructure, as well as the risk of reduced choice and innovation in the market. Fixed voice services in regional, rural and remote communities are essential. Before any changes are enacted, we should understand the impacts for regional and remote communities. Fixed voice networks play an essential role. Any reduced service availability, increased costs or diminished competition in these communities would be an unacceptable outcome, especially for vulnerable communities reliant on fixed voice infrastructure. Further, the committee should test whether these changes will have the unintended consequence of reduced investment in the network, its resilience and our critical telecommunications infrastructure.

The ACCC draft report proposed implementation timeframes of 1 January 2026. This is just eight weeks away. The world could change in the telecommunications space in such a short period of time. I hope that without further inquiries and consultation this implementation timeframe is reviewed.

As I said, the committees' work in this place is so important. The Australian public expects each and every one of us to take our job seriously—jobs that their well-earned taxpayer money funds. If Australians knew that committees were sitting idle—I don't think one single Australian would think it was a good use of their hard-earned taxpayer money to have politicians sitting around parliament when they should be working. Some of that work is the work that I've just mentioned. We're handing over a very important job that could be started now. It could have major impacts, particularly in regional and rural Australia, where people are already suffering telecommunications failures. We are seeing that right now with Optus. If the smaller providers leave the market and only three large providers are left—well, we know what happens when there's not enough competition.

Hopefully, with the committee's assistance and inquiry into this matter, we can ensure that our telecommunications network is safe and resilient and that it remains competitive. That is the very least that we can do for regional Australia and for all Australians, who expect every politician in this place to be working hard for them.

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