The ACCC has approved Telstra’s proposed variation to the NBN Migration Plan for Special Services.
The ACCC has agreed to an In Train Order (ITO) process being established which will provide business customers with a longer period before disconnection occurs where a valid order is in place for migration to the NBN.
These ITO arrangements will improve service continuity by providing customers with 170 business days after the initial disconnection date before disconnection of services will commence. Customers with a scheduled initial disconnection date of 12 November will need to have an order in place for an NBN service before this date to take advantage of the new ITO process.
Orders placed after 12 November 2018 will not have access to the ITO process but will obtain a benefit through deferred disconnection activity which will commence after 29 January 2019.
“The ACCC strongly encourages all Special Service customers with a 12 November 2018 disconnection date to place an order for migration to the NBN before this date to take advantage of these new ITO arrangements and avoid the possibility of unintended disconnections to their services,” ACCC Commissioner Cristina Cifuentes said.
The ACCC’s Final Decision and the varied Migration Plan are available at Telstra's Migration Plan.
Background
Special Services are typically business-grade services used for critical purposes other than standard landline phone or internet services.
The Migration Plan sets out the steps that Telstra will take to progressively migrate voice and broadband services from its copper and HFC networks to the NBN as it is rolled out across Australia.
On 10 September 2018 Telstra submitted a proposed variation to the Migration Plan to the ACCC. The proposed variation included measures to change migration arrangements for Special Services together with some other measures which Telstra has previously received regulatory forbearance from the ACCC and as a result of accepting this variation will now be formally documented in the Migration Plan. These include extending ITO arrangements for residential services and disconnections arrangements for premises with registered fire alarms and lift phones.
The ACCC’s consideration of the proposed variation is limited to whether or not the Migration Plan, as varied, complies with Migration Plan Principles issued by the Australian Government in 2015.
The ACCC undertook consultation on Telstra’s proposed variation, receiving in response seven stakeholder submissions. The ACCC took these submissions into account in making its decision to accept the proposed variation to the Migration Plan.