Internet Australia wants the company building the National Broadband Network, NBN Co, to take primary responsibility for ensuring effective delivery of broadband data services under proposed changes to the telecommunications Universal Service Obligation (USO).
Appearing at public hearings being held by the Productivity Commission, IA chief executive Laurie Patton said there was a need for a single entity to be charged with ensuring that an expanded telecommunication USO was properly implemented.
"Subject to further consideration, we believe that NBN Co should have a basic and overriding responsibility to ensure everyone has broadband access, and this applies to the provision of access under the USO," he said.
"That was the basic premise when the organisation was created. While NBN Co is a wholesale-only provider, it was always envisaged that it would provide the mechanism for ensuring everyone who needs it has broadband access.”
{loadposition peter}In his submission to the Productivity Commission, Patton pointed out that unlike the existing telco-focused USO, where there are only a handful of providers, the RSP market is so large that any USO broadband data model is “bound to be very complicated”.
While IA is yet to determine a position on exactly how it should be structured, Patton told the hearings, “I believe somebody has to take ultimate responsibility for making sure that an expanded USO works. In the telco case it is Telstra. In the broadband case in my view it should be NBN Co”.
IA, with other organisations at the hearings, maintains that the USO should be funded by government, not via a levy of service providers.
"We only have a universal POTS (plain old telephone service) because it was funded and built by the government," Patton said.
Patton told the Commission that IA sees three groups and individuals needing support under any USO – those who are financially constrained, people in remote areas and people with disabilities.
As Patton points out, IA maintains that for many of those requiring assistance under the USO, access to the Internet is often more important than access to a standard telephone.
"There are new applications coming on to the market that make using a broadband service more helpful, especially for people with disabilities."
Patton says IA is monitoring the public hearings and will consider the formal submissions made to the Productivity Commission before providing further public comment on the most effective structure for an expanded USO.