Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network - Part 2: Broadband - AS/ACIF S043.2:2008) Amendment 2012 (No. 1)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the Australian Communications and Media Authority

Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband – AS/ACIF S043.2:2008) Amendment 2012 (No. 1)

Telecommunications Act 1997

Purpose

The Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband – AS/ACIF S043.2:2008) Amendment 2012 (No. 1) (the ACMA Amendment) amends the Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband – AS/ACIF S043.2:2008) 2008 (the ACMA Standard).

The ACMA Standard adopts the mandatory requirements in the industry standard made by Communications Alliance Ltd (CA), AS/ACIF S043.2:2008 Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband (the CA Standard). The CA Standard was amended by Amendment No.1/2012 to AS/ACIF S043.2:2008 Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband (the CA Amendment) which was published by CA in October 2012.

The purpose of the ACMA Amendment is to amend the ACMA Standard so that it adopts the CA Standard as amended by the CA Amendment.

Legislative Provisions  

The ACMA Standard and the ACMA Amendment are made under subsection 376(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (the Act). Subsection 376(1) allows the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) to make a technical standard, by written instrument, relating to a specified customer equipment (CE) or customer cabling (CC).

Standards are to consist only of such requirements as are necessary or convenient for the matters set out in subsection 376(2) of the Act.  The requirements contained in the ACMA Standard are necessary and convenient to meet the objectives set out in paragraphs 376(2)(a) to (d) of the Act.  The requirements imposed by the ACMA Amendment are also necessary and convenient to meet those same objectives.

Subsection 377(1) of the Act allows the ACMA to apply, adopt or incorporate (with or without modification) any matter contained in a standard proposed or approved by Standards Australia or any other body or association. The ACMA Standard adopts the mandatory requirements of the CA Standard. The ACMA Amendment amends the ACMA Standard to adopt the mandatory requirements of the CA Standard as amended by the CA Amendment.

The ACMA Amendment is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (the LI Act).

Background   

The telecommunications regulatory arrangements in place under Division 7 of Part 21 of the Act require each supplier of an item of CE or CC that falls within the scope of an applicable standard (that is, a standard made under section 376 of the Act) to apply a compliance label to the item prior to its supply to the market and to keep prescribed records. Compliance is determined against technical standards made under section 376 of the Act.

The Telecommunications Labelling (Customer Equipment and Customer Cabling) Notice 2001 (the TLN) made under section 407 of the Act, lists the technical standards and imposes labelling and record keeping requirements in relation to items of CE and CC covered by a listed technical standard. The ACMA Standard is one of the standards listed in the TLN.

The ACMA Standard adopts the mandatory requirements of the CA Standard. The objective of the CA Standard is to provide the requirements and test methods for CE that is designed or intended for connection to a telecommunications network via a metallic local loop interface and has a broadband capability.

In 2012, the CA Network Reference Panel approved three new Non Deployment Class Systems (NDCS) 12-08, 12-09 and 12-10 for use under the C559:2012 Unconditioned Local Loop Service (ULLS) Network Deployment code (the ULLS code).  

The ULLS code defines the performance requirements for Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and other technologies on copper access networks. It offers a coordinated approach to reduce the risk of interference between services deployed over access networks. The ULLS code was revised and registered in 2012 to make specific changes on the ULLS network deployment rules for DSL and to correct minor editorials in the previous version of the code (registered in 2006).

Corresponding changes are required to the equipment classes in the 2008 industry standard to ensure that customer equipment can interoperate with the new Non Deployment Class Systems deployed in the access network. The CA Standard has been updated to reflect the changes made to the equipment classes in the CA Standard. It is therefore necessary to update the ACMA Standard to adopt the CA Amendment.

Operation

The ACMA Amendment amends the ACMA Standard to adopt the mandatory requirements of the CA Standard as amended by the CA Amendment. 

Consultation

Section 378 of the Act sets out the consultation requirements that apply in relation to the making of a technical standard. Prior to making a standard under section 376, the ACMA must, so far as is practicable, try to ensure that interested persons have had an adequate opportunity to comment on a proposed standard and that due consideration has been given to any representations so made. Interested persons must be given a period of at least 60 days to make representations.

Subsection 378(2) allows the ACMA to make an arrangement with, among others, a body or association approved in writing by Standards Australia for the purposes of that subsection,  under which the body or association prepares, publishes, consults publicly and reports to the ACMA on the results of the public consultation process. CA is a body approved in writing by Standards Australia for the purposes of subsection 378(2).

On 11 October 2012 CA published the CA Amendment.  CA submitted the CA Amendment to the ACMA for incorporation in the ACMA Standard, along with the results of its consultation process in relation to the CA Amendment.

The ACMA considers that, in accordance with subsection 378(1) of the Act, prior to submitting the CA Amendment for regulatory adoption, CA gave interested persons an adequate opportunity to make representations about the CA Amendment.

CA conducted a public consultation process in relation to the CA Amendment.The consultation period commenced on 30 July 2012 and was open for public comment for 63 days. CA extended invitations to relevant sections of industry and the public to make submissions on the CA Amendment. A copy of the CA Amendment was made available for public comment on the CA website during the consultation period. The invitation to comment was also published in The Australian newspaper. The CA Amendment was made available in both hard copy and electronic format.

No comments were received from the public on the content of the CA Amendment.

The ACMA also considers that, because of the consultation process undertaken by CA with respect to the CA Amendment, the ACMA Amendment is an instrument in relation to which appropriate consultation has already been undertaken by someone other than the rule-maker.   Therefore, as provided for in paragraph 18(2)(e) of the LI Act, it is not necessary for the ACMA to undertake further consultation on the ACMA Amendment.

Regulation Impact

The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has considered the matter and formed the opinion that the ACMA Amendment will have a minor and machinery impact and does not impose any substantial additional regulatory burden on manufacturers or importers of CE and CC or on the economy. Accordingly, OBPR advised that a regulatory impact statement is not required.  The OBPR exemption number is ID 14427.

Documents incorporated in this Instrument by Reference

The CA Standard and the CA Amendment can be downloaded free of charge from the CA website at: http://www.commsalliance.com.au/Documents/all/Standards/s043.2

Detailed description of the ACMA Amendment

Further details on the ACMA Amendment are set out in Attachment 1.

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

Subsection 9(1) of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 requires the rule maker in relation to a legislative instrument to which section 42 (disallowance) of the LI Act applies to cause a statement of compatibility to be prepared in respect of that legislative instrument. This statement is Attachment 2.

Attachment 1

Notes on the instrument

Section 1 Name of Amendment

Section 1 provides that the name of the instrument is the Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband – AS/ACIF S043.2:2008) Amendment 2012 (No. 1).

Section 2 Commencement

Section 2 provides that the instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Section 3 Amendment of Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements                             for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface                             of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband – AS/ACIF                                           S043.2:2008) 2008

Section 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband – AS/ACIF S043.2:2008) 2008.

Schedule 1 Amendments

Items [1] and [2] of Schedule 1 remove the second note after subsection 1(2) and make a minor consequential amendment to the existing reference to Note 1.

Item [3] of Schedule 1 substitutes the definition of “AS/ACIF Standard” to mean the Australian Standard/Australian Communications Industry Forum Standard: Requirements for Customer Equipment for connection to a metallic local loop interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 2: Broadband (AS/ACIF S043.2:2008) published by CA in 2008, and incorporating the amendment made to the standard of that name published by CA on 11 October 2012.

Attachment 2