ACCC dodges NBN monopoly question

The chief of Australia's competition regulator last night said it was too soon to know what sort of issues would arise if the National Broadband Network Company became another government-owned monopoly telco player in the style of Telstra.

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel (Credit: Suzanne Tindal/ZDNet.com.au)

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has previously labelled the NBN Company a "second Telstra", despite the fact that the company will only provide wholesale services to other telcos and not sell retail offerings, as Telstra does.

"I've heard some descriptions about the NBN becoming another monopoly," said Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chief Graeme Samuel on the ABC's Lateline Business in response to a question from presenter Ali Moore on the NBN Company becoming a replacement monopoly company. The full transcript is available online.

"I think we have to wait and see how things will pan out over the next short while as [NBN Co CEO] Mike Quigley and his team proceed with the whole process of establishing NBN Co, its dealings with Telstra and with others that have got infrastructure that may or may not be relevant to the NBN."

"There's an awful lot of water to flow under the bridge and I think we just need to wait and see how that plays out over the next month to a year or so."

Former ACCC chief, Samuel's predecessor Allan Fels, last week delivered a mixed view of the government's proposed reforms, noting in particular that by weakening Telstra, it may "be killing the only foreseeable competitor to the NBN".

"It may also force Telstra (and the other carriers) to join the NBN," Fels wrote in a wide-ranging commentary. "Either outcome could potentially reduce competition."

But Samuel rejected Fels' comments. "Look, it's unfortunate, Allan Fels is no longer part of the action, nor is he close to the action," he said. "I think that makes it very difficult for him to provide informed comment on some of these areas."

According to Shadow Communications Minister Nick Minchin, Samuel should not be commenting on the Government's NBN policy or the Telstra separation issue.

"Mr Samuel, quite frankly, has overstepped his role and responsibility by publicly promoting the Government's NBN policy and also its plans to force the structural separation of Telstra," Minchin said in a statement this afternoon.

"Mr Samuel's continued public commentary runs the risk of providing evidence of bias against a company he is entrusted to regulate and reducing public confidence in the ACCC as an impartial competition regulator."