Competition and telecommunications infrastructure

On 22 June 2017, the Australian Government introduced two important bills in the Australian Parliament, the Telecommunications (Regional Broadband Scheme) Charge Bill 2017 (RBS Bill) and the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Bill 2017 (CC Bill). The Bills, when considered together, are intended to promote competition in the telecommunications infrastructure market and protect the interests of consumers.

These Bills implement the most significant components of the Government's response to the independent cost-benefit analysis and review of regulatory arrangements for the National Broadband Network (NBN) undertaken by a panel chaired by Dr Vertigan in 2014. The introduction of the Bills in Parliament follows on from consultation on earlier exposure drafts of the Bills undertaken by the Department of Communications and the Arts between December 2016 and February 2017.