Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations (Amendment) 1997 No. 125
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 1997 No. 125
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Communications and the Arts
Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Act 1991
Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations (Amendment)
Section 8 of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Act 1991 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act. Section 4 of the Act provides for the holder of a general telecommunications licence or a public mobile licence to pay the Commonwealth, by way of tax in respect of the licence, on 1 July 1997, a fee of an amount determined in accordance with the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations (the regulations) as in force immediately before 1 July 1997.
The new regulatory package for telecommunications that will operate from 1 July 1997 gives the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) certain powers for the regulation of the telecommunications industry. The Telecommunications (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1997 provides for the exercise of certain regulatory powers and functions by the ACCC prior to 1 July 1997 for the purpose of ensuring a smooth transition from the existing regulatory regime to the new regulatory regime. The Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Termination Act 1997 amended the Act to allow for the recovery of the costs incurred by the ACCC before 1 July 1997.
The purpose of the accompanying regulations is to enable the calculation of the costs of the ACCC in exercising its special telecommunications functions and powers before 1 July 1997 and to allow those costs to be recovered from the existing telecommunications carriers (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone) in the current financial year.
The ACCC's 'special telecommunications functions and powers' are the functions and powers conferred on the ACCC by or under the following provisions:
(a) a provision of the Telecommunications Act 1997 eg. a provision of Part 20 of that Act, which will allow the ACCC to make a determination, or give a direction, under Rules of Conduct about dealings with international telecommunications operators,
(b) a provision of Part XIB of the Trade Practices Act 1974, which sets out a special regime for regulating anti-competitive conduct in the telecommunications industry;
(c) a provision of Part XIC of the Trade Practices Act 1974, which sets out a telecommunications access regime;
(d) a provision of Part 3 of the Telecommunications (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1997, containing transitional provisions relating to the telecommunications access regime;
and includes anything done by the ACCC (whether before or after the passage of the Act) in preparation for the commencement of such a provision.
Details of the accompanying regulations are as follows:
Regulation 1 (Commencement)
Regulation 1 provides that the regulations commence on 30 June 1997.
Regulation 2 (Amendment)
Regulation 2 provides that the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Fees) Regulations are amended as set out in the regulations.
Regulation 3 (Regulation 2 - Interpretation)
Regulation 3 inserts a definition of "ACCC costs" into the interpretation provisions of the existing regulations. "ACCC costs" is defined as the amount determined by a written instrument made by the ACCC under paragraph 6(c) of the Act.
Paragraph 6(c) of the Act provides that the ACCC is to determine an amount to be the proportion of the ACCC's appropriation for the financial year ending on 30 June 1997 that is attributable to the ACCC's special telecommunications functions and powers (discussed above).
Regulation 3 also amends the definition of 'relevant financial year' in the existing regulations. The 'relevant financial year' is the financial year that ends on 3 0 June 1996. This definition is relevant to a number of terms used in the existing regulations including 'carrier's traffic share'. Because carriers' timed traffic figures take up to 18 months to be compiled, the timed traffic figures for the financial year just ended are used in the equations in the regulations.
Regulation 4 (Regulation 3 - Amount of licence fee)
Regulation of the existing regulations provides formulae for the calculation of the fee payable in respect of a general telecommunications or public mobile licence. The purpose of Regulation 4 of the accompanying amending regulations is to amend these formulae to include a component attributable to the ACCC's costs in exercising its special telecommunications functions and powers.
Existing subregulation 3(1) provides that, subject to regulation 3, the amount of carrier licence fees is the sum of.
(a) $500, 000 (or, if a licence is not held for the whole of a financial year, a proportional fee); and
(b) an amount calculated using a formula which takes account of the total of all amounts appropriated for the purposes of AUSTEL in the relevant financial year ('the RFY appropriation'), less expenditure on public inquiries conducted by AUSTEL which do not relate to the regulation of carriers and less amounts received from carriers and others sources ('excluded money') plus a figure based on the Commonwealth's contribution to the ITU budget for that financial year ('the ITU component') multiplied by a particular carrier's share of telecommunications traffic in the relevant financial year.
Subregulation 4.1 of the accompanying amending Regulations requires the ACCC costs to be added after the equation '((PY appropriation - excluded money) + ITU component)' in existing subregulation 3(1) and then multiplied by a particular carrier's share of telecommunication traffic in the year. "ACCC costs" are defined in subregulation 3.1 of the accompanying amending regulations.
If the amount calculated under subregulation 3(1) is a negative amount, the licence fee is nil.
Existing subregulation 3(2) provides that, subject to subregulation (3), if the total of the amounts calculated under subregulation (1) in relation to each carrier is greater than the total of all amounts appropriated for the purposes of AUSTEL in the financial year that ends on 30 June in the calender year (the 'PY appropriation'), the amount of carrier licence fees is the sum of.
(a) $500, 000 (or, if a licence is not held for the whole of a financial year, a proportional fee), and
(b) an amount calculated using a formula which subtracts from the PY appropriation the amount of fees received by AUSTEL with respect to carrier licences in force at any time during the financial year ending 30 June in the calender year in which a fee is payable under the Act ('received. fees') plus the ITU component, multiplied by a particular carrier's share of telecommunications traffic in the relevant financial year.
Subregulation 4.1 of the accompanying amending regulations requires the ACCC costs to be added after the equation '((PY appropriation - received fees) + ITU component)' in existing subregulation 3(2)(b) and then multiplied by a particular carrier's share of telecommunication traffic in the year. Subregulation 4.2 of the accompanying amending regulations includes a reference to ACCC costs after the first occurring reference to the ITU component in existing subregulation 3(2).
Existing subregulation 3(3) provides that in spite of subregulations (1) and (2) if, for the purpose of calculating a fee under the regulations, the amount of the received fees is greater than the amount of the PY appropriation and the ITU component, the amount of the fee to be paid by each carrier is an amount calculated by multiplying the PY appropriation plus the ITU component by the carrier's traffic share.
Subregulation 4.1 of the accompanying amending regulations requires the ACCC costs to be added after the equation '((PY appropriation + ITU component)' in existing subregulation 3(3) and then multiplied by a particular carrier's share of telecommunications traffic in the year.
Subregulation 4.2 of the accompanying amending regulations require the ACCC costs to be added after the first occurring reference to 'ITU component' in existing subregulation 3(3).