Agency said decision will foster competition.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced reductions in the price of wholesale transmission services for telcos in regional and rural parts of Australia.
The price reduction comes after the ACCC reduced the regulated prices for the declared Domestic Transmission Capacity Service (DTCS) to “significantly” lower levels than before.
Regulated prices for high capacity services will be 60 percent lower than the last time the prices were reduced in 2016, while low capacity services will be cut by 35 percent.
ACCC chair Rod Sims said, “We expect these lower prices will promote competition in downstream retail markets which will lead to lower prices as well as new, innovative services for consumers.”
Wholesale transmission, also known as backhaul, is a high capacity wholesale service used by telcos to carry large volumes of data between locations where they do not have their own infrastructure.
The ACCC regulates transmission on routes in regional and outer metropolitan areas where there isn’t as much competition compared to capital cities and other metropolitan areas.
“The downward trend in commercial transmission prices has continued over the past five years, which is reflected in the lower regulated DTCS pricing,” Sims said.
