Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS UNIVERSAL SERVICE MANAGEMENT AGENCY REGULATION 2012 (SLI NO 123 OF 2012)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2012 No. 123

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Broadband, Communications

and the Digital Economy

 

Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Act 2012

 

Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Regulation 2012

 

 

Section 125 of the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Act 2012 (the Act) enables the Governor-General to make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed.

 

Paragraph 11(f) of the Act provides that the regulations may specify a policy objective of Part 2 of the Act where the policy objective relates to the supply of carriage services.

 

Sections 11 and 125 of the Act received the Royal Assent on 16 April 2012, with 1 July 2012 being the date fixed by proclamation for sections 3 to 125 of the Act to commence. Section 4 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 enables the Governor-General to make regulations under provisions of an Act that has received the Royal Assent but has yet to come into operation.

 

Under section 12 of the Act, the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency (TUSMA) must take all reasonable steps to ensure that, in performing its functions and exercising its powers, it achieves the policy objectives set out in Part 2.

 

The purpose of the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Regulation 2012 (the Regulation) is to include a new policy objective in Part 2 of the Act enabling TUSMA to make arrangements ensuring that customers of a carriage service provider (CSP) in areas outside of a 'standard zone' (as defined in the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 (the TCPSS Act)) are provided with access to untimed local calls when using a standard telephone service or a payphone, or when accessing a dial-up internet service. The new policy objective will cease to apply on 1 July 2013.

 

The Act specifies no conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the Regulation may be exercised.

 

The Regulation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (LIA) (see paragraph 6(a) of the LIA).

 

The Regulation commences on 1 July 2012.

 


Background

 

Telecommunications services outside standard zones

 

Certain geographical areas within Australia, located predominantly in rural and remote regions, are situated outside Telstra Corporation Limited's (Telstra's) standard charging zones for local calls. These areas are commonly referred to as 'extended zones'. In the absence of arrangements for the provision in extended zones of untimed calls at a local call rate, a phone call to a neighbour or local regional centre could attract long-distance charges. In many instances, access to a landline is the only reliable form of telecommunications service for people in these areas.

 

Relevant legislation

 

Part 4 of the TCPSS Act sets out the legislative arrangements for ensuring that local calls are charged on an untimed basis. Under section 104 of that Act, a CSP that charges a customer in a standard zone for local calls between two points within that zone must give that customer the option of an untimed local call. 'Standard zones', as defined in section 108 of the TCPSS Act, are the Telstra local call zones as they existed immediately before 1 July 1991. In general, these zones are located in the more populated areas of Australia.

 

Under section 105 of the TCPSS Act, a customer within a standard zone receives an untimed local call option if, and only if, that customer is able to choose, both at the time the service is connected and at any subsequent time, to have the charges for local calls made on that service worked out on an untimed basis.

 

Section 107 of the TCPSS Act effectively extends the requirement to offer an untimed local call option to customers in areas outside of standard zones. In particular, subsections 107(2) and (6) require the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (the Minister) to ensure that, at all times, there are regulations in place extending the untimed call benefits given to standard zone customers under section 104 to customers making calls outside a standard zone. However, under subsection 107(6A) this obligation will not apply if there are arrangements that give rise to obligations under one, or any combination of, the following: one or more agreements, the TCPSS Act or the Telecommunications Act 1997, or instruments made under either of those Acts.

 


On 1 June 2001, the Commonwealth entered into an agreement with Telstra for the provision of untimed local calls to customers in extended zones. This agreement negated the need for the Minister to make regulations (in accordance with subsection 107(6A) of the TCPSS Act). Upon the expiry of this agreement in 2011, the Commonwealth entered into a further one-year extended zones agreement with Telstra pending the settlement of long-term universal service arrangements. This second agreement is due to expire on 30 June 2012. The Government's intention is that this agreement will be extended to 30 June 2013 and managed by TUSMA from 1 July 2012. Under both agreements, Telstra has provided customers in the extended zones with access to untimed local calls within the extended zones, between adjacent extended zones, and between extended zones and a community service town. This included calls made using a standard telephone service, as well as those made from Telstra payphones, and calls made to an internet service provider using a data network access service number commencing with the numerals 0198 (known as 'dial up internet calls').

 

TUSMA

 

The Act establishes TUSMA as a new statutory agency that, from 1 July 2012, will administer service agreements and grants for the delivery of universal service outcomes and other public telecommunications services. Under section 13 of the Act, TUSMA may only enter into a contract, or make a grant, for a purpose that relates to the achievement of one or more of the policy objectives set out in Part 2 of the Act. The Regulation will enable TUSMA to enter into and manage contracts, or make grants of financial assistance, to provide customers in areas outside of standard zones with access to untimed calls at a local call rate. Such arrangements could apply to calls made using a standard telephone service or a payphone in fulfilment of the policy objectives in paragraphs 11(a) and (b) of the Act, as well as to calls made when accessing the 0198 dial up internet service. The transition of the extended zone arrangements to TUSMA ensures that there continue to be arrangements satisfying the requirements of subsection 107(6A) of the TCPSS Act, and is consistent with the government's overall policy to shift the delivery of public telecommunications services to a transparent and accountable contractual framework.

Statement of compatibility with human rights

This statement of compatibility is prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

The Regulation includes a new policy objective in Part 2 of the Act enabling TUSMA to make arrangements ensuring that customers of a carriage service provider (CSP) in areas outside of a 'standard zone' are provided with access to untimed local calls when using a standard telephone service or a payphone, or when accessing a dial-up internet service.

 

The Regulation does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms. Accordingly, the Regulation is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, as it does not raise any human rights issues.

 

Consultation

The Government consulted all carriers who will pay the Telecommunications Industry Levy. Three carriers and the Competitive Carriers' Coalition made submissions on the regulation. Carriers do not generally support increasing the scope of TUSMA's activities to include responsibility for managing arrangements for untimed calls in the extended zones. While recognising the regulation was for one financial year, carriers agued this still created a precedent of further expanding TUSMA's scope and therefore potential for future levy increases.

 

Details of the accompanying regulation are set out in the Attachment.

 

 


ATTACHMENT

 

Details of the Regulation

 

Section 1 - Name of regulation

 

This section provides that the title of the Regulation is the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Regulation 2012.

 

Section 2 - Commencement

 

This section provides that the Regulation will commence on 1 July 2012.

 

Section 3 - Definitions

 

This section sets out the definitions of three key terms used in the Regulation.

 

The 'Act' is defined to mean the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Act 2012.

 

An 'internet service provider' is defined to have the same meaning as in the Telecommunications Act 1997, which consequently relies on the same meaning as in Schedule 5 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. Namely, a person is an internet service provider if they supply, or propose to supply, an internet carriage service to the public.

 

'Standard zone' is defined to have the same meaning as in section 108 of the TCPSS Act. It is effectively the Telstra local call zones that were in place immediately before 1 July 1991.

 

Section 4 - Public interest telecommunications services - specified policy objectives

 

Subsection 4(1) specifies a new policy objective for the purposes of Part 2 of the Act that all persons in Australia that are outside a standard zone are to have access to untimed calls on a basis that is comparable to the access provided to persons in standard zones for calls made using a standard telephone service or a payphone, or made to an internet service provider using a data network access number.

 

A 'standard telephone service' is defined in section 6 of the Act to have the same meaning as in the TCPSS Act, although the Minister may under that section determine the characteristics of a standard telephone service for the purposes of the Act alone.

 

'Payphone' under the Act has the same meaning as in Part 2 of the TCPSS Act (which concerns the universal service obligation).

 


A data network access service is a carriage service that allows a telephone end-user to gain access to particular facilities or features available on a packet-switched network. In the case of the Internet, an end-user customer of an internet service provider dials up using an 0198 number that identifies the internet service provider's point of presence (i.e., the call moves from the public switched telephone network to the Internet). A number of different types of online data networks can be accessed by means of a data network access number, including networks used for the supply of short messaging services between mobile phone and Internet users.

 

Persons in standard zones currently have access to untimed local calls using a standard telephone service, a Telstra payphone or when they make calls to an internet service provider using a data network access number. Subsection 4(1) aims to ensure that persons in extended zones will enjoy comparable access.

 

To date, the agreement between Telstra and the Commonwealth in respect of 'extended zones' has ensured that people making these three types of calls outside standard charging zones have access to an untimed local call option. Subsection 4(1) will ensure that, from 1 July 2012, TUSMA is able to enter into contracts, or make grants of financial assistance, that will continue to extend the benefit of the untimed local call option to telephone users outside the standard zones.

 

Under subsection 4(2), the additional policy objective will cease to apply on 1 July 2013. From that date, TUSMA will no longer have the power to enter into arrangements regarding untimed calls in the extended zones. This section reflects the decision of the Government that TUSMA should manage arrangements for untimed local calls in the extended zones during 2012-13, with longer-term arrangements being considered after the Review of Telecommunications Retail Price Controls.

 

 


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