Carrier Licence Conditions (Telstra Corporation Limited) Declaration 1997 (Amendment No. 2 of 2003) (Cth)
Commonwealth of Australia
Telecommunications Act 1997
Carrier Licence Conditions (Telstra Corporation Limited) Declaration 1997
(Amendment No. 2 of 2003)
I, RICHARD KENNETH ROBERT ALSTON, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, make the following Declaration under subsection 63(5) of the Telecommunications Act 1997.
Dated 29 September 2003.
RICHARD ALSTON
Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
_________________________________________________________
Name of Declaration
This Declaration is the Carrier Licence Conditions (Telstra Corporation Limited) Declaration 1997 (Amendment No. 2 of 2003).
Commencement
This Declaration commences on gazettal.
3 Amendment of the Carrier Licence Conditions (Telstra Corporation Limited) Declaration 1997
Schedule 1 amends the Carrier Licence Conditions (Telstra Corporation Limited) Declaration 1997.
Schedule 1 Amendment
(clause 3)
[1] After clause 30
insert
Internet assistance program for dial-up Internet access
Internet assistance program
31. (1) The licensee must upon request by a customer in an eligible service area make available to that customer the Internet assistance program for providing the minimum equivalent throughput.
(2) The licensee must ensure the Internet assistance program is provided in a manner that is impartial and competitively neutral.
(3) The licensee is not required to provide the minimum equivalent throughput under subclause (1) to the extent that the licensee is prevented from doing so by circumstances beyond its control, being circumstances that include (but are not limited to) use by a customer of an operating system that is not in common use and lack of cooperation on the part of a customer, a carriage service provider or another third party.
Note 1: The cooperation mentioned in subclause (3) is necessary as effective use and experience of the Internet is dependent on a wide range of factors and requires a higher degree of customer involvement in configuration and other decisions than more traditional telecommunications services such as voice telephony.
Note 2: In the event of a dispute between the licensee and a customer or other party as to whether an operating system was in common use, it is intended that the ACA’s opinion on this matter would prevail.
Technical Support Service
(4) The licensee must provide assistance to a customer who is referred to the Technical Support Service:
(a) at the time of the contact; or
(b)if reasonably unanticipated demand for the Technical Support Service makes it necessary, at a consultation time agreed with the customer.
(5) For the purposes of paragraph 4(b), the licensee must offer a consultation time that is:
(a)within 5 working days after the day on which the customer first contacts the Technical Support Service; or
(b)a later day and a later time if the customer prefers.
(6) Where the licensee undertakes a consultation under paragraph (4)(b), it must complete the consultation:
(a)within 5 working days after the day on which the customer first contacts the Technical Support Service; or
(b)on a later day and at a later time if the customer prefers.
(7)Where, for a particular customer:
(a)use of the On-line Help Service does not result in the minimum equivalent throughput; and
(b)the customer accesses the Technical Support Service; and
(c)the licensee determines that testing and other activities are necessary to determine the appropriate way of providing the customer with the minimum equivalent throughput;
the licensee must complete that testing and other necessary activities within 3 working days.
(8) Where the licensee undertakes testing and other necessary activities mentioned in paragraph 7(c), the licensee must decide within 2 working days after the conclusion of all testing and other necessary activities undertaken with the cooperation of the customer whether field activities or other activities are necessary and appropriate in the circumstances to provide the minimum equivalent throughput.
(9) If the licensee decides that field activities are necessary and appropriate in the circumstances to provide the minimum equivalent throughput, the licensee must, unless circumstances make it unreasonable, complete those activities within 90 working days after the day on which the licensee makes its decision. This timeframe does not apply in relation to a customer in an Outer Extended Zone until such time as the digital radio concentrator system on which the customer’s service is provided is upgraded in accordance with the Extended Zones Agreement.
Note: The Extended Zones Agreement contains a timetable for the upgrade of digital radio concentrator systems in the Outer Extended Zones.
(10) If the licensee decides that other activities are necessary and appropriate in the circumstances to provide the minimum equivalent throughput, the licensee must, unless circumstances make it unreasonable, complete those activities within 10 working days after the day on which the licensee makes its decision.
Cost recovery by the licensee
(11) For the purposes of this clause the licensee can only charge a customer for costs the licensee reasonably incurs in connection with the acquisition of necessary customer equipment for use by the customer or necessary changes to the customer equipment of the customer. The licensee may only charge such costs if the customer has been advised of, and has agreed to, the charges in advance.
Note: It is intended that the licensee will not be able to charge a customer for the cost of data compression software if the licensee considers that such software is the most appropriate means of providing the minimum equivalent throughput. It is also intended that costs associated with applicable standard commercial arrangements between a customer and a service provider will be borne by the customer.
Promotion of the Internet assistance program
(12) The licensee must take reasonable steps to publish and distribute information about the requirements of this clause and its activities to fulfil its obligations under it.
Note 1: It is intended that the ACA as the regulator will determine that the steps the licensee takes are reasonable.
Note 2: It is intended that information be published and distributed via the Internet as well as by more traditional means.
Reporting of the licensee’s compliance with this clause
(13) The licensee must provide the ACA with written reports on its compliance with the requirements of this clause, covering such matters as the ACA reasonably requires.
Note: The ACA can require a carrier to keep records and provide information under Part 27 of the Telecommunications Act 1997.
(14) The reports must:
(a)cover the periods of 1 January to 31 March, 1 April to 30 June, 1 July to 30 September, and 1 October and to 31 December, or such other periods as the ACA determines following consultation with the licensee; and
(b)be provided to the ACA within 30 working days after the end of the period to which the report relates, or such other period as the ACA determines following consultation with the licensee.
Licensee’s ongoing contractual obligations
(15) Nothing in this clause affects the licensee’s obligations under:
(a)the Extended Zones Agreement; or
(b)the Internet Assistance Program Funding Deed.
Definitions
(16) In this clause:
carriage service provider has the same meaning as in the Act.
carrier has the same meaning as in the Act.
customer means:
(a)a customer of a carrier or carriage service provider to whom the carrier or provider supplies up to 2 standard telephone services 1 or both of which enables the customer to obtain dial-up access to the Internet over an access line that is part of the licensee’s public switched telephone network but does not include:
(i)a carrier or carriage service provider; or
(ii) a customer with an intervening system (such as a PABX) that might limit Internet throughput; or
(iii) a customer with an interim service or an alternative service, as defined in the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2000 (No. 2); or
(iv)a customer supplied with an interim priority service; or
(b)a nominee of a customer appointed in accordance with procedures of the licensee (if any).
customer equipment has the same meaning as in the Act.
eligible service area means a geographical area within:
(a)a State of Australia; or
(b)the Australian Capital Territory; or
(c)the Jervis Bay Territory; or
(d)the Northern Territory.
Extended Zones Agreement means the Agreement for the provision of untimed local calls, untimed Internet access and other carrier services to Extended Zones dated 1 June 2001 between the Commonwealth and the licensee, as amended from time to time.
field activities means activities undertaken by the licensee in the field, including inspections, on-site testing, maintenance and infrastructure improvements, with the objective of providing a customer with the minimum equivalent throughput.
Internet assistance program means the On‑Line Help Service integrated with the Technical Support Service that the licensee can technically and cost effectively employ in appropriate circumstances to assist a customer to achieve the minimum equivalent throughput while accessing the Internet using the customer’s standard telephone service access line that is part of the licensee’s public switched telephone network.
Internet Assistance Program Funding Deed means the Funding Deed dated 29 September 2001 between the Commonwealth and the licensee in relation to the Internet Assistance Program, as amended from time to time.
minimum equivalent throughput means an Internet throughput experience of a customer that is equivalent to that which would be experienced if the customer were transferring data in an Internet environment:
(a)using a public switched telephone network (PSTN) service that:
(i) is supplied to fulfil the obligation in paragraph 9(1)(a) of the Consumer Protection Act; and
(ii) has a 19.2 kilobits per second line rate capability; and
(b)using a V.90 modem that has direct connection to a server modem and operates using applicable technical protocols and methods (including error correction) for optimal performance that are current as at the commencement of this clause; and
(c)without the use of compression techniques; and
(d)is consistent with the method of assessing minimum equivalent throughput:
(i) as set out in the document known as Telstra IAP Self Help – Throughput Tester Technical Specification and Calibration that was approved by the Internet Assistance Program Advisory Panel on 28 February 2002; or
(ii) as otherwise determined in writing by the ACA following consultation with the licensee.
Note 1: Minimum equivalent throughput is intended to be a measure of customer experience in relation to basic web browsing and emailing. It is determined by the download time for a set of Internet and email files that would be expected from ordinary Internet usage when transmitted to a customer under reasonable conditions with cooperation from the customer and other service providers, including the licensee. It is not intended to refer to the capability of a customer access line (known as the line rate) to transfer data at a particular speed. The on‑line testing facility mentioned in paragraph (a) of the definition of Technical Support Service is intended to be available to a customer to enable the customer to assess their Internet throughput against the minimum equivalent throughput.
Note 2: The document known as Telstra IAP Self Help – Throughput Tester Technical Specification and Calibration is available from the ACA, including from its website.
On-Line Help Service means a service of the licensee that provides:
(a)self-help solutions and resources, including an Internet Self‑Help Kit for improving Internet throughput, to customers that are:
(i) accessible on-line or by a freecall telephone request; and
(ii) updated to take into account accumulated experience with the Internet assistance program; and
(b)a first contact point for customers and potential customers seeking advice and support to improve their Internet throughput, including help-desk functionality by which suggested changes to the configuration and environment of a customer’s computer, modem or other customer equipment can be recommended; and
(c)appropriate information to promote the use of the Internet by customers, advise how generally to achieve optimal Internet performance and assist customers requiring higher bandwidth or alternative Internet access arrangements to identify a range of alternatives (including alternatives to the public switched telephone network) to meet their individual Internet throughput requirements; and
(d)referrals to the Technical Support Service for more detailed assessment and, if necessary, assistance, including field activities, to improve Internet throughput.
standard telephone service has the same meaning as in the Consumer Protection Act.
Technical Support Service means a service of the licensee that provides:
(a)an on-line testing facility that customers may use to assess their Internet throughput and the adequacy of their service and equipment against the minimum equivalent throughput; and
(b)where appropriate, diagnosis, through remote line assessment or on-site inspections, of the causes of Internet throughput not equalling the minimum equivalent throughput; and
(c)improvement of the performance of the customer access network of the licensee’s public switched telephone network though line‑conditioning or other minor works; and
(d)advanced software solutions (for example, data compression solutions such as modem accelerator products); and
(e)other appropriate alternative Internet access technology solutions as notified in writing by the licensee to the ACA.
Note: The causes mentioned in paragraph (b) of this definition may include, for example, external factors such as electric fence interference or problems associated with internal wiring or difficulties associated with an Internet service provider’s network or services.
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