Division 12 and Internet Activity Record Keeping Rule (RKR) review - Submission in response to ACCC Consultation and Position Paper
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Submission in response to ACCC Consultation and Position Paper Division 12 and Internet Activity Record Keeping Rule (RKR) review Public Version July 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Optus welcomes the opportunity provide feedback on the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC) Division 12 and Internet Activity Record Keeping Rule
(RKR) review (the Consultation).
2. In general, we welcome the ACCC’s acknowledgement of the duplication in the reporting
requirements for SIO information across several reports. We also support the
aggregation of revenue information by access type, i.e. NBN services and non-NBN
services, and the removal of reporting requirements that no longer apply.
3. However, we are concerned with the proposals to:
(a) Include SMS, M2M and home wireless broadband services as new reporting
categories for both SIO and revenue information in the Division 12 report;
(b) Require greater disaggregation of SIO and data volume information for mobile
services to include M2M and home wireless broadband services as new reporting
categories. This will be in addition to the existing prepaid mobile, postpaid mobile
and mobile broadband services that have traditionally been captured.
(c) Require greater disaggregation of SIO information for mobile services by retail
sub-brands; as well as wholesale mobile services by individual MVNOs for all
mobile services reporting categories (i.e. current and proposed).
4. Optus does not consider the above changes are currently warranted.
Public Version | Page 2PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE DIVISION 12 RKR
5. Under the current Rules, respondents are required to provide retail service and revenue
information across a range of fixed line voice, mobile and internet service categories, by
30 September each year.
6. In particular, Optus supports the following proposed changes to the Division 12 RKR,
(a) Removal of fixed voice services as a reporting category. This has been based on
legacy structures which are no longer widely referred to.
(b) Removal of the requirement to provide revenue information at a disaggregated
level. Streamlining this requirement to only be provided at the total services level
will also remove any inconsistencies in the cost allocations applied by the
different carriers.
(c) Amendment of the Record-Keeping Declaration to only be accompanied by the
declaration of the employee of the CSP, and not necessarily the CEO or CFO.
7. However, we are concerned with the inclusion of new reporting requirements for SMS,
M2M and home wireless broadband services.
8. While the ACCC proposes that these Division 12 amendments apply from 1 July 2021
(that is, retaining the current Rules for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years), Optus
considers there is a case for intermediary changes to be applied with immediate effect.
9. Optus’ comments on the proposed changes are further discussed below.
Reporting due date
10. Optus does not support the due date being brought forward two weeks from 30
September to the 15 September.
11. While carriers can endeavour to provide their completed RKRs by 15 September, Optus
stresses that the original reporting due date should be retained to facilitate internal
governance processes and completion of the Record-Keeping Declaration in the Rules.
12. As the ACCC is aware, the reporting timeframe for Division 12 does not align with Optus’
annual financial year reporting cycle which completes year-end at 31 March. This means
that additional internal validation is required to meet the Division 12 rules, including the
capturing of data from different information systems.
13. Optus also considers that the Declaration requirement in the relevant Schedule be
amended to reflect the revised wording set out under 6(6) of the draft Rules, which
states that the report must be accompanied by the declaration of the employee of the
CSP. This change would bring the Division 12 declaration requirement in line with other
RKR obligations.
Schedule A: Respondents
14. Optus strongly supports the removal of fixed line voice services as a reporting category,
and addition of Vocus Group as a reporting entity subject to these Rules.
Schedule B: Fixed line voice services
15. Optus supports the removal of Schedule B from the RKR.
Public Version | Page 316. We acknowledge the ACCC’s desire to collect the usage of fixed-line voice services
covering the COVID-19 pandemic period, however we consider there is no longer the
need to have this information disaggregated by PSTN and VoIP services.
17. As an interim measure, we would also welcome the aggregation of the PSTN and VoIP
information taking immediate effect until the schedule is fully removed.
Schedule C: Mobile services
18. The ACCC has proposed several changes to the Mobile Services schedule, including:
(a) Removal of the requirement to report on SIO information for mobile services. This
will continue to be collected as part of the Internet Activity RKR;
(b) Removal of disaggregation requirement for service and connections revenue
while continuing to collect a total revenue figure for mobile services on a prepaid
and postpaid basis;
(c) Removal of the requirement to report total number of calls, while retaining the
current requirement to provide information on call minutes (i.e. the total number
of mobile originating voice call minutes);
(d) Inclusion of new requirement for wholesale mobile service revenue to be
provided on a disaggregated basis, collected on a similar basis to retail mobile
service revenue.
(e) Inclusion of new requirement for SMS usage to be provided;
(f) Removal of the requirement to provide details on material changes to the prices
and terms and conditions of supply. This is in accordance with the relaxation of
these requirements in recent financial years; and
(g) Amending the requirement for Bill Samples to reduce the quantity of bills required
but increase the frequency to an annual basis.
19. Optus supports the removal of the requirements listed above from the RKR. However
where new requirements have been introduced, we provide several comments below.
Inclusion of Wholesale Mobile revenue
20. Optus notes that inclusion of wholesale mobile revenue for post-paid and prepaid
services may be supported insofar that it does not require any further disaggregation of
the information being provided.
21. Specifically, there should be no requirement imposed for the disaggregation of this
information by individual wholesale customers.
SMS usage
22. Optus does not support the need to separately provide information on SMS usage.
23. SMS revenue is not separately reported nor is the need to capture SMS volumes a
relevant consideration for operators. Optus notes that almost all its retail plans offer
unlimited voice calls and SMS in Australia.
24. The MTAS SMS service is no longer declared, and it is not clear that there is any
consumer benefit to justify this additional regulatory burden.
Public Version | Page 4Bill Samples
25. Optus notes that where Bill Samples are required on an annual basis, we welcome the
reduction of the quantity being supplied being reduced from 365 to 100 sample bills.
Schedule D: Internet Services
26. The ACCC has proposed several changes to the Internet Services schedule, including:
(a) Removal of the requirement to report on SIO information for internet services.
This will continue to be collected as part of the Internet Activity RKR;
(b) Removal of disaggregation requirement for service and connections revenue
while continuing to collect a total revenue figure for internet services for each
access technology;
(c) Update for total revenue for non-NBN fixed internet services (DSL and Cable) to
be aggregated into a single non-NBN revenue figure;
(d) Update for total revenue for NBN services (NBN fibre and NBN fixed wireless) to
be aggregated into a single NBN revenue figure;
(e) Amend the wireless broadband services category to only include mobile
broadband services for the collection of total revenue information. This similarly
relates to the removal of the definition of wireless broadband under the current
Division 12 Rules;
(f) Inclusion of two additional categories of M2M and home wireless broadband
services for the collection of total revenue information.
(g) Removal of the requirement to provide details on material changes to the prices
and terms and conditions of supply. This is in accordance with the relaxation of
these requirements in recent financial years; and
(h) Amending the requirement for Bill Samples to reduce the quantity of bills required
but increase the frequency to an annual basis.
27. Optus supports the removal of the requirements and the increased aggregation of
information provided as listed above from the RKR. In particular, we would welcome the
immediate effect of the total revenue aggregation being applied to NBN and non-NBN
fixed internet services.
28. However where new requirements have been introduced, we provide several comments
below.
Inclusion of M2M and home wireless broadband
29. Optus is concerned with the inclusion of M2M and home wireless broadband services as
separate reporting categories, distinct from mobile broadband. These are services we
currently do not separately report on a public basis.
Bill Samples
30. Optus notes that where Bill Samples are required on an annual basis, we welcome the
reduction of the quantity being supplied being reduced from 365 to 100 sample bills.
Public Version | Page 5PROPOSED CHANGES TO INTERNET ACTIVITY RKR
31. Under the current Rules, respondents are required to provide information on the number
of retail SIO in terms of access connection, wholesale speed tier and the volume of data
downloaded across NBN, non-NBN fixed and mobile services, on a bi-annual basis.
32. Optus supports the following proposed changes to the Internet Activity RKR,
(a) The formal removal of Schedule E from the current Rules given these
requirements no longer apply; and
(b) Clarification that NBN service information is required for retail SIO and retail data
volume only.
33. However, we do not support the proposed changes for further disaggregation of mobile
services information for sub-brands and individual MVNOs, as well as the inclusion of
new reporting requirements for M2M and home wireless broadband services.
34. While the ACCC proposes that these Internet Activity amendments apply from 1 October
2021 (that is, retaining the current Rules for the next 1 October and 1 April periods),
Optus considers there is a case for some changes to be applied with immediate effect.
35. Optus’ comments on the proposed changes are further discussed below.
Schedule A - Respondents
36. Optus supports the addition of IPStar and SkyMesh to the list of respondents for non-
NBN fixed services. This extends their reporting obligations to include both NBN
services and non-NBN fixed services information.
Schedule B – NBN services
37. Optus supports the proposal to amend the wholesale speed categories to align with the
wholesale speed tiers offered by NBN Co.
38. We also welcome the added clarification that wholesale data volume is not required.
That is, the RKR definition confirms reporting is required for retail SIO and retail data
volume only. In addition, we do not consider it is necessary to provide this information
for upload data volumes.
Schedule C – Non-NBN fixed services
39. There is no proposed change to the requirements set out under the current Rules.
Schedule D – Mobile services
40. The ACCC has proposed several changes to the Mobile Services schedule, including:
(a) Requirement to include retail SIO information from sub-brands separate from
their parent brand’s retail SIO for all mobile service categories;
(b) Requirement to provide wholesale SIO information by individual MVNO for all
mobile service categories; and
(c) Inclusion of two additional categories of M2M and home wireless broadband
services as part of the information being collected for mobile services.
Public Version | Page 641. In general, Optus does not support the proposed changes.
42. All information provided should continue to only require respondents to provide SIO
information for prepaid, postpaid and mobile broadband services on an aggregated
basis, i.e. at the group level.
43. Wholesale SIO information should similarly be limited to the aggregate level, with any
further information for disaggregated SIO information to be sought directly from MVNOs.
Retail SIO information by sub-brand
44. Optus does not support the disaggregation of retail SIO information by sub-brand.
45. Similar to the need to report data volumes for retail mobile services, this should only
continue to be provided on an aggregated basis for prepaid, postpaid and mobile
broadband mobile service categories only.
Wholesale SIO by individual MVNO
46. Optus does not support the requirement to provide this information on a disaggregated
basis. Extending this information requirement would impose additional regulatory burden
on operators, particularly given the large number of MVNOs operating in the Australian
market and the arms-length relationship many MNOs may have with their wholesale
customers.
47. Individual MVNO information, where required, should be sought directly from the MVNO
themselves.
48. Similar to the need to report data volumes for wholesale mobile services, this should
only continue to be provided on an aggregated basis for prepaid, postpaid and mobile
broadband mobile service categories only.
Inclusion of M2M and home wireless broadband
49. Optus is concerned with the inclusion of M2M and home wireless broadband services as
separate reporting categories, distinct from mobile broadband. These are services we
currently do not separately report on a public basis.
Schedule E - Fixed-line/wired broadband, wireless broadband and mobile handset
services
50. Optus supports the formal removal of this Schedule given these requirements of the
RKR no longer apply.
Public Version | Page 7CONSIDERATIONS FOR A COMBINED RKR
51. The ACCC is also considering the proposal to combine the Division 12 and Internet
Activity RKR into a single RKR under one of the following options:
(a) Option 1: Combine the RKRs with annual reporting (June only) and a due date of
31 August; or
(b) Option 2: Combine the RKRs with bi-annual reporting (June and December) and
a due date of 31 August (June) and 28 February (December); or
(c) Option 3: Combine the RKRs but maintain existing reporting requirements (i.e. bi-
annual reporting (June and December) for the Internet Activity data and annual
reporting (June) for the remaining Division 12 RKR data requirements).
52. Optus does not support Option 2 as this would increase the regulatory reporting burden
placed on respondents.
53. Optus considers that a combined RKR (Option 1) with annual reporting would likely
produce the least regulatory burden for respondents, however this would need to be
subject to several changes.
(a) First, the reporting due date should not be brought forward from the current
Division 12 due date (30 September). At the very minimum, the reporting due
date should instead align with the later of the proposed Division 12 or Internet
Activity RKR due dates (i.e. 15 September).
(b) Second, the reporting requirements should be aligned for all reporting entities.
(c) Third, the comments provided in relation to each of the current reporting
requirements in the preceding sections are considered.
54. It follows that absent any suggested changes being applied, Option 3 would continue to
be the status quo (i.e. a combined RKR in name only).
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