Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations

Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations

Statutory Rules 1991 No. 358 as amended

made under the

Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Act 1991

This compilation was prepared on 4 August 2003
taking into account amendments up to SR 1997 No. 125

[Note: The enabling legislation of these Regulations was repealed by Act No. 50 of 1997 on 1 July 1998]

Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting,
Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra

Contents

 1 Citation [see Note 1] 

 2 Interpretation 

 3 Amount of licence fee 

 4 Limit on annual fees — proportion of Commonwealth’s contribution to ITU budget             

Notes  

1 Citation [see Note 1]

  These regulations may be cited as the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations.

2 Interpretation

 (1) In these regulations, unless the contrary intention appears:

ACCC costs means the amount determined by a written instrument made by the ACCC under paragraph 6 (c) of the Act.

Act means the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Act 1991.

carrier’s traffic share, in relation to a particular carrier, means the figure worked out using the formula:

.

excluded money, in relation to AUSTEL, means the sum of:

 (a) the amount of expenditure by AUSTEL in the relevant financial year on public inquiries that:

 (i) are held under Part 14 of the Telecommunications Act 1991; and

 (ii) do not relate to the regulation of the activities of a holder of a general telecommunications licence and public mobile licence; and

 (b) the amount payable to AUSTEL in the relevant financial year from any source, other than:

 (i) the RFY appropriation; and

 (ii) fees payable under the Act; and

 (c) the received fees.

ITU component, in relation to a fee that is payable under the Act in a calendar year, means the amount determined under regulation 4 for the calendar year.

predecessor, in relation to a carrier, means a body to which the carrier is, under paragraph 11 (c) of the Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation Act 1991, in law a successor.

proportional fee, in relation to a person who does not hold a general telecommunications licence or a public mobile licence for the whole of a financial year, means an amount calculated using the formula:

PY appropriation, in relation to a fee that is payable under the Act in a calendar year, means the total of all amounts appropriated for the purposes of AUSTEL in the financial year that ends on 30 June in the calendar year.

received fees, in relation to AUSTEL, means the sum of the amounts of:

 (a) $500,000; or

 (b) if the proportional fee applies — the proportional fee;

for each general telecommunications licence and public mobile licence in force at any time during the financial year that ends on 30 June in the calendar year in which a fee is payable under the Act.

relevant financial year, for a fee that is payable under the Act on 1 July 1997, means the financial year that ends on 30 June 1996.

RFY appropriation, in relation to a fee that is payable under the Act in a calendar year, means the total of all amounts appropriated for the purposes of AUSTEL in the relevant financial year.

 (2) For the purposes of the formula in the definition of carrier’s traffic share in subregulation (1):

 (a) particular carrier’s timed traffic, in relation to a particular carrier, means the total duration (expressed in minutes) of all timed traffic, within the meaning of section 305 of the Telecommunications Act 1991, in Australia in the relevant financial year, being traffic that is carried by:

 (i) the particular carrier; and

 (ii) any predecessor of the particular carrier.

 (b) all carriers’ timed traffic means the total duration (expressed in minutes) of all timed traffic, within the meaning of section 305 of the Telecommunications Act 1991, in Australia in that financial year, being traffic that is carried by:

 (i) any carrier (including the particular carrier); and

 (ii) any predecessor of a carrier mentioned in subparagraph (i).

3 Amount of licence fee

 (1) Subject to this regulation, for the purposes of section 4 of the Act, the amount of the fee to be paid by the holder of a general telecommunications licence or a public mobile licence, by way of tax in respect of the licence, is the sum of $500,000 (or, if the proportional fee applies, the proportional fee) and:

 (a) an amount calculated using the formula:

or

 (b) if the amount calculated under paragraph (a) is a negative amount — nil.

 (2) Subject to subregulation (3), if the total of the amounts calculated under subregulation (1) in relation to each holder of a general telecommunications licence or a public mobile licence is greater than the sum of the PY appropriation, the ITU component and ACCC costs, the amount of the fee to be paid by each holder of a general telecommunications licence and public mobile licence, by way of tax in respect of the licence, is the sum of:

 (a) $500,000, or, if the proportional fee applies, the proportional fee, and:

 (b) an amount calculated using the formula:

 (3) In spite of subregulations (1) and (2), if, for the purpose of calculating a fee under these Regulations, the amount of the received fees is greater than the amount of the sum of the PY appropriation, the ITU component and ACCC costs, the amount of the fee to be paid by each holder of a general telecommunications licence or a public mobile licence, by way of tax in respect of the licence, is an amount calculated using the formula:

4 Limit on annual fees — proportion of Commonwealth’s contribution to ITU budget

 (1) For the purposes of paragraph 6 (b) of the Act, the amount determined for a calendar year is the product of:

 (a) the Commonwealth’s contribution to the budget of the ITU for that calendar year; and

 (b) the number (rounded to 2 decimal places) obtained using the formula:

  where:

  T is the amount of the budget of the ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization sector for that calendar year; and

  R is the amount of the budget of the ITU’s Radiocommunication sector for that calendar year.

 (2) In this regulation, ITU means the International Telecommunication Union.

Notes to the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations

Note 1

The Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations (in force under the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Act 1991) as shown in this compilation comprise Statutory Rules 1991 No. 358 amended as indicated in the Tables below.

Table of Statutory Rules

Table of Amendments