Further round of consultation on Telecommunications in New Developments

The federal government is asking for further submissions on a policy update aimed at improving the provision of the Telecommunications in New Developments (TIND) initiative.

Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, The Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the update — designed to place TIND on a more sustainable footing — is multipronged.

“Under the proposed update [...] the provision of telecommunications networks in new real estate developments, including pit and pipe and active networks, will continue to be the responsibility of developers,” Minister Fletcher said.

“A key proposal is that the current charges levied by NBN Co on developers would become caps. NBN Co would be able to charge below the cap, which would put downward pressure on prices. 

“NBN would also have greater flexibility to install competing infrastructure where it is commercially viable, giving it more scope to respond to competition, subject to the usual competition and competitive neutrality rules.”

The changes will take into account the new statutory infrastructure provider laws that are currently before the parliament.

Under these laws, carriers will be responsible for servicing developments where they are contracted to provide infrastructure.

New wholesale service standards are also being developed for statutory infrastructure providers serving new developments.

Minister Fletcher said there had already been clear support for the policy update from an initial round of public consultation, early this year.

However, more work is needed to simplify the policy and improve market operation.

Any party that wishes to have their say is encouraged to do so. Submissions must be received before 5 pm AEST on Monday, 8 June 2020.

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