ACCC seeks comment on NBN POI locations
- 06 August, 2012 10:32
- Comments 1
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is seeking submissions on its consultation paper on the draft section list of points of interconnect (POI) for the National Broadband Network (NBN).
A total of 121 POIs will be used for the NBN, with the ACCC now required to publish a list detailing where the POI will be located.
While the ACCC has not revealed the exact location of POIs, a general suburb location has been provided in the consultation paper.
The ACCC has proposed for one POI to be located in the NT; two in the ACT; two in Tasmania; nine in SA; 14 in WA; 22 in Queensland; 30 in Victoria; and 41 in NSW.
Nine NBN Co-built POIs have been revised in the recent consultation paper and the North Parramatta POI has been relocated to the Parramatta Telstra exchange.
POIs are the connection point which will allow retail service providers and wholesale service providers to connect to the NBN.
The POI have been a contentious aspect of the NBN, with NBN Co originally seeking 14 POIs.
Rene Sugo, CEO of ISP MyNetFone, has previously stated once interim POI are removed NBN consumer prices will rise, with four interim POI currently being used until the final POIs are implemented over the next three years.
A final list of POIs will be published in September this year.
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Comments
Francis Young
1
The ACCC cave-in to lobbying by four large incumbent providers of longhaul fibre (who actually asked for 202 POIs) resulted in the terrible, anti-competitive outcome of all other retail providers needing to purchase third-party links to servce regional customers. The decision also forces NBNCo to staff many regional facilities that will add to its costs and feed through onto higher wholesale prices to everyone.
I note with interest in the new ACCC document that "NBN Co can refuse to provide interconnection at a location that is not a POI included on the list (listed POI) if this refusal is reasonably necessary to achieve uniform national pricing."
This sounds like acknowledgement that it was all a big mistake, and may allow NBNCo engineers to determine the optimal technical architecture without bureaucratic interference.
I would like to see the ACCC discover from this latest consultation that the decision to increase POIs arbitrarily was made with incomplete information on the implications, and that the original 14-POI architecture be reinstated, plus any which NBNCo may deem to be technically necessary, but not simply to appease incumbent asset owners.
Should they make this sensible decision, they will possibly face litigation from several fledgling POI aggregators who built a business model on getting a cut on regional access. This is better than permanently locking in an anti-competitive architecture and needless cost imposition for customers.