Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsObject
(1) The object of this Part is to promote the long - term interests of end - users of carriage services or of services provided by means of carriage services.
Promotion of the long - term interests of end - users
(2) For the purposes of this Part, in determining whether a particular thing promotes the long - term interests of end - users of either of the following services (the listed services ):
(a) carriage services;
(b) services supplied by means of carriage services;
regard must be had to the extent to which the thing is likely to result in the achievement of the following objectives:
(c) the objective of promoting competition in markets for listed services;
(d) the objective of achieving any - to - any connectivity in relation to carriage services that involve communication between end - users;
(e) the objective of encouraging the economically efficient use of, and the economically efficient investment in:
(i) the infrastructure by which listed services are supplied; and
(ii) any other infrastructure by which listed services are, or are likely to become, capable of being supplied.
Subsection (2) limits matters to which regard may be had
(3) Subsection (2) is intended to limit the matters to which regard may be had.
Promoting competition
(4) In determining the extent to which a particular thing is likely to result in the achievement of the objective referred to in paragraph (2)(c), regard must be had to the extent to which the thing will remove obstacles to end - users of listed services gaining access to listed services.
Subsection (4) does not limit matters to which regard may be had
(5) Subsection (4) does not, by implication, limit the matters to which regard may be had.
Encouraging efficient use of infrastructure etc.
(6) In determining the extent to which a particular thing is likely to result in the achievement of the objective referred to in paragraph (2)(e), regard must be had to the following matters:
(a) whether it is, or is likely to become, technically feasible for the services to be supplied and charged for, having regard to:
(i) the technology that is in use, available or likely to become available; and
(ii) whether the costs that would be involved in supplying, and charging for, the services are reasonable or likely to become reasonable; and
(iii) the effects, or likely effects, that supplying, and charging for, the services would have on the operation or performance of telecommunications networks;
(b) the legitimate commercial interests of the supplier or suppliers of the services, including the ability of the supplier or suppliers to exploit economies of scale and scope;
(c) the incentives for investment in:
(i) the infrastructure by which the services are supplied; and
(ii) any other infrastructure by which the services are, or are likely to become, capable of being supplied.
Subsection (6) does not limit matters to which regard may be had
(7) Subsection (6) does not, by implication, limit the matters to which regard may be had.
Investment risks
(7A) For the purposes of paragraph (6)(c), in determining incentives for investment, regard must be had to the risks involved in making the investment.
(7B) Subsection (7A) does not, by implication, limit the matters to which regard may be had.
Achieving any - to - any connectivity
(8) For the purposes of this section, the objective of any - to - any connectivity is achieved if, and only if, each end - user who is supplied with a carriage service that involves communication between end - users is able to communicate, by means of that service, with each other end - user who is supplied with the same service or a similar service, whether or not the end - users are connected to the same telecommunications network.