Australia’s competition and consumer watchdog has approved Telstra’s proposed variation to the National Broadband Network Migration Plan to enable fibre to the curb (FTTC) as a new access technology.
The Migration Plan outlines steps Telstra will take to progressively migrate voice and broadband services from its existing copper and hybrid-fibre coaxial (HFC) networks to the NBN, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which regulates it, said.
According to the ACCC, stakeholders identified concerns with NBN Co’s proposed connection processes, in response to a discussion paper it released in December on Telstra’s proposed FTTC variation.
“The proposed connection processes could have resulted in people being left without a phone or internet service before their FTTC service was operating,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.
“NBN Co have now agreed to change connection processes and undertake data testing to ensure FTTC services are operating prior to disconnection of existing services.”
The ACCC said it welcomed the improvements, which "should provide a safeguard against consumers being disconnected before they have access to a working NBN service".
NBN Co will also notify FTTC service customers that they have up to 18 months to switch their existing services to the NBN service before their phone and internet services are disconnected, it said.
