ACCCs mobile roaming inquiry: Where to now?

On 5 May 2017 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a draft decision that it will not declare any mobile roaming services (that is, services allowing the customers of one mobile network to use the services of another in areas where the first network does not have coverage). A declaration would have had the practical effect of requiring Telstra, as the network operator with the largest geographical reach, to provide roaming services to its competing network operators, currently Optus and Vodafone, in those areas where those competitors do not have coverage.

The ACCC decided that, notwithstanding Telstra may charge a premium to its customers for the extended coverage it provides, it was not convinced that consumers would be better off if roaming was declared. In particular, if a declaration was made, prices could potentially increase for all consumers (or consumers in regional and remote areas) and the investment decisions of