Trade Practices (Telecommunications Exemptions) Regulations (Cth)

Statutory Rules 1988 No. 991

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Trade Practices (Telecommunications Exemptions) Regulations

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Trade Practices Act 1974.

Dated 25 May 1988.

N. M. STEPHEN

Governor-General

By His Excellency's Command,

LIONEL BOWEN

Attorney-General

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Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Trade Practices (Telecommunications Exemptions) Regulations.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears:

"Aussat" means AUSSAT Pty Ltd, being a company incorporated on 6 November 1981 under the law in force in the Australian Capital Territory;

"OTC" means the Overseas Telecommunications Commission;

"PABX" means a private automatic branch exchange consisting of a switchboard and other apparatus, commonly known as a PABX;

"Telecom" means the Australian Telecommunications Commission;

"the Act" means the Trade Practices Act 1974.

Prescribed authorities

3. For the purposes of paragraph 172 (2) (c) of the Act, each of the following bodies is a prescribed authority of the Commonwealth:

(a) Telecom;

(b) OTC;

(c) Aussat.

Prescribed conduct

4. For the purposes of paragraph 172 (2) (c) of the Act, the following conduct is prescribed:

(a) conduct involved in giving effect to the requirement that any person who acquires the supply of telephone services shall also acquire from the supplier of those services, and have connected to those services by that supplier, a standard telephone handset;

(b) conduct, in relation to the supply of telephone services, involving a refusal, by the supplier of those services, to exercise its statutory power to approve, as suitable for connection to those services, a telephone handset that was not acquired from the supplier of those services;

(c) conduct involved in giving effect to a requirement that a supplier of a PABX shall enter into service and training agreements, with the supplier of the telephone services to which the PABX is, or is to be, connected, to provide for all maintenance work and training in relation to the PABX to be carried out by the supplier of those telephone services;

(d) conduct, in relation to the supply of telephone services, involving a refusal, by the supplier of those services, to exercise its statutory power to approve, as suitable for connection to those services, a small business telecommunications system;

(e) conduct involved in giving effect to the prohibition by the supplier of line or other transmitting capacity, in relation to telecommunications services, of the resale or sharing of that capacity;

(f) conduct relating to the provision, as an exclusive provider, of the following services:

(i) basic public switched voice telecommunications services;

(ii) public switched data;

(iii) public switched texts;

(iv) public switched integrated services digital networks;

(v) leased circuits;

(vi) public mobile telephone services.

Exemption of conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (a)

5. Subject to regulation 11, sections 46 and 47 of the Act shall not, during the period commencing on the commencement of these Regulations and ending at the expiration of 30 June 1989, apply in relation to conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (a) engaged in in the course of a business carried on by Telecom.

Exemption of conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (b)

6. Subject to regulation 11, sections 46 and 47 of the Act shall not, during the period commencing on the commencement of these Regulations

and ending at the expiration of 31 December 1988, apply in relation to conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (b) engaged in in the course of a business carried on by Telecom.

Exemption of conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (c)

7. Subject to regulation 11, sections 46 and 47 of the Act shall not, during the period commencing on the commencement of these Regulations and ending at the expiration of 31 December 1988, apply in relation to conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (c) engaged in in the course of a business carried on by Telecom.

Exemption of conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (d)

8. Subject to regulation 11, sections 46 and 47 of the Act shall not, during the period commencing on the commencement of these Regulations and ending at the expiration of 30 June 1989, apply in relation to conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (d) engaged in in the course of a business carried on by Telecom.

Exemption of conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (e)

9. Subject to regulation 11, sections 46 and 47 of the Act shall not apply in relation to conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (e) engaged in in the course of a business carried on by:

(i) Telecom;

(ii) OTC; or

(iii) Aussat.

Exemption of conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (f)

10. Subject to regulation 11, sections 46 and 47 of the Act shall not apply in relation to conduct referred to in paragraph 4 (f) engaged in in the course of a business carried on by:

(i) Telecom; or

(ii) OTC.

Application of exemption

11. Conduct specified in regulation 4 is exempt from the application of section 46 of the Act only to the extent that such conduct by a prescribed authority takes advantage, in the market to which the conduct primarily relates, of the substantial degree of power that the authority has in that particular market.

NOTE

1. Notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette