Explanatory statement
Issued by the authority of the Australian Communications & Media Authority
TELECOMMUNICATIONS (EXEMPTION FROM ANNUAL CHARGE) DETERMINATION 2007
Telecommunications (Numbering Charges) Act 1997
Statutory basis
Section 18 of the Telecommunications (Numbering Charges) Act 1997 provides that if a carriage service provider (CSP) holds an allocated number at the beginning of a day in April determined by the Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA), an annual numbering charge is imposed on that number. Subsection 22 (2) of the same act provides that ACMA may, by written determination, exempt a specified number from annual charge.
Purpose
The Telecommunications (Exemption from Annual Charge) Determination 2007 specifies the numbers that are exempt from annual charge.
Background
The Commonwealth Government has directed ACMA to collect a set amount of revenue each year from CSPs that hold telephone numbers. ACMA collects this revenue through the annual numbering charge process.
ACMA collects annual numbering charges in accordance with the provisions of the Telecommunications Act 1997, the Telecommunications (Numbering Charges) Act 1997 and determinations made by ACMA under those acts.
The Office of Regulation Review (ORR) has advised that a Regulation Impact Statement is not required for this determination (ORR reference: 8752). No public consultation was undertaken under section 17 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 because the changes from the previous determination are minor and machinery in nature and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.
NOTES ON SECTIONS
Section 1 – Name of Determination
This section provides that the determination is the Telecommunications (Exemption from Annual Charge) Determination 2007.
Section 2 – Commencement
This section provides that the determination commences the day after it is registered.
Section 3 – Revocation – Telecommunications (Exemption from Annual Charge) Determination 2005
This section revokes the Telecommunications (Exemption from Annual Charge) Determination 2005.
Section 4 – Definitions
This provision defines the terms used in the determination.
Section 5 – Purpose of Determination
Section 5 sets out the purpose of the determination.
The section notes that annual charge is imposed on allocated numbers held by a carrier or carriage service provider on a day in April determined by ACMA.
The section also notes that ACMA may exempt numbers from annual charge under subsection 22 (2) of the Telecommunications (Numbering Charges) Act 1997. This determination specifies the numbers that are exempt from annual charge.
Section 6 – Numbers used for community services
Section 6 specifies that community service numbers are exempt from annual charge.
Under the Telecommunications Numbering Plan 1997, made under section 455 of the Telecommunications Act 1997, community service numbers start with ‘110’ and ‘119’. Community service numbers are used by carriers and carriage service providers to provide access to information or assistance of significant community value without expectation of generating significant revenue.
Section 7 – Geographic numbers
Section 7 specifies that geographic numbers, other than those allocated to carriage service providers for the purposes of providing a standard telephone service to customers, are exempted from annual charge.
Geographic numbers used by carriage service providers for the purposes of providing a standard telephone service to customers are specifically exempt from annual charge under subsection 22 (1) of the Telecommunications (Numbering Charges) Act 1997. Given that geographic numbers used for the provision of a standard telephone service cannot generally be distinguished from geographic numbers used in connection with other services (such as mobile roaming or automated teller machines), it is impractical to impose charge on the latter numbers.
Section 8 – International Signalling Point Codes
Section 8 specifies that international signalling point codes are exempt from charge.
International signalling point codes are not part of the Australian numbering resource (they are made available to carriage service providers by ACMA on behalf of the International Telecommunications Union). Carriage service providers do not derive any direct revenue through their use of the numbers.
Section 9 – Telex numbers
Section 9 specifies that all telex numbers are exempt from annual charge.
The use of telex services is in long-term decline and, as a result, the costs of administering a charge on these numbers would outweigh the returns.
Section 10 – ENUM trial numbers
Section 10 specifies that ENUM Service trial numbers will also be exempted from annual charge for the duration of the ENUM Trial. This section also notes that the ENUM Trial is currently scheduled to end on 30 June 2007.
The ENUM Service trial numbers are not considered likely to generate significant revenue. This is because the purpose of the trial is to assess the feasibility and practicality of supplying ENUM Services in Australia and will not involve full service rollout. Consequently it is unclear what level of revenue will be generated and, given establishment costs, whether or not participants in the trial will make a profit, break even or incur a loss.
The effect on the ANC revenue base of granting this exemption is considered minimal. This is because these numbers are specified at 10-digit length, and it is expected that up to several thousand numbers only will be allocated for the ENUM Service trial. Based on the total quantity of numbers liable for ANC, particularly at much shorter digit length, the effect of granting this exemption on the ANC base rate and the liability of individual CSPs is considered minor.