Phone and internet bills to drop as ACCC recommends Telstra slash prices other telcos pay to access its copper wire network

PHONE and internet bills are likely to fall after the competition watchdog’s decision that affects Telstra — our largest mobile network.

• ACCC tells Telstra to cut prices

• Prices should fall by 9.6 per cent from October

• Phone and internet bills to become cheaper

• Cusotmers not on NBN will pay higher prices

PHONE and internet bills are likely to fall after the competition watchdog recommended Telstra cut the price it charges other telcos to access its copper wire network.

Many of Telstra’s phone and internet rivals pay the telco giant to provide phone and broadband services via the Telstra network.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says that prices should fall by 9.6 per cent from October, as the number of Australians relying on the copper network falls as it is progressively replaced by the national broadband network.

The falling number of customers still using services provided over the copper network should not be hit with the sizeable costs of maintaining the ageing asset, the ACCC said.

“If there is no adjustment for these higher costs then customers who have not been migrated to the NBN will pay significantly higher prices for copper-based services,” chairman Rod Sims said.

MORE: How Telstra’s new wi-fi network will work

“Eventually, these prices would reach absurd levels for the unlucky last copper customers.” Telstra said it was disappointed with the recommended price cut. The ACCC should be setting prices that mean all companies using the copper network equally bear the cost of operating it, a company spokesman said.

The per-customer cost of operating the network will rise in the next few years, and Telstra’s deal with the federal government for the rollout of the NBN does not account for the increase, the telco said.

“If the ACCC reduces access prices on the legacy network, they risk making the transition to the NBN harder for everyone — consumers, industry and NBN Co,” the spokesman said.

The ACCC’s decision is only a draft ruling, with further market feedback being sought before the regulator makes a final ruling at the end of September.

The news comes as Australia’s biggest wireless internet-sharing network will launch this week, in a Telstra project that will also let its customers use their home broadband allowances overseas for free.

But there is one catch to the giant wireless hotspot network: users must share their home download speeds with passers-by.

Telstra will launch the project, dubbed Telstra Air tomorrow, and customers with compatible broadband routers will be able to sign up to it with an app or online at telstra.com/air.