{"id":"F2014L01699","name":"Carrier Licence Conditions (Networks supplying Superfast Carriage Services to Residential Customers) Declaration 2014","slug":"carrier-licence-conditions-networks-supplying-superfast-carriage-services-to-residential-customers-d","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":92371,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2014L01699-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of Instrument","content":"#### 1 Name of Instrument\n\n  This Declaration is the Carrier Licence Conditions (Networks supplying Superfast Carriage Services to Residential Customers) Declaration 2014.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definitions","content":"#### 4 Definitions\n\n  (1) In this Declaration:\n\n> ABN has the meaning given in section 41 of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999.\n\n> Act means the Telecommunications Act 1997.\n\n> Amending Instrument means the Carrier Licence Conditions (Networks supplying Superfast Carriage Services to Residential Customers) Declaration 2014 (Amendment No.1 of 2016).\n\n> associate of a specified carrier is to be determined in accordance with section 152 of the Act.\n\n> business customer means a customer that:\n\n    (a) carries on a business or enterprise from a premises, regardless of whether there is any incidental use of the premises for occupation (from time to time) as a place of residence; and\n    (b) has an ABN for the business or enterprise.\n\n> declared service has the same meaning as in Part XIC of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.\n\n> designated commencement date means the date on which Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Act 2020 commences.\n\n> designated telecommunications network means that part of a fixed‑line telecommunications network made up of local access lines or parts of local access lines which:\n\n    (a) is used, or is technically capable of being used, to supply superfast carriage services; and\n    (b) is not:\n    (i) subject to either sections 141 or 143 of the Act; or\n    (ii) the subject of a ministerial exemption in force under section 141A or section 144 of the Act; or\n    (iii) any of the following:\n    (A) the national broadband network; or\n    (B) a specified HFC network; or\n    (C) any local access lines that are used to supply carriage services to business customers, public bodies or large charity customers; or\n    (D) a fixed‑line network (or any part of such a network) in existence immediately before 1 January 2011 which is situated in a real estate development project that is extended on or after 1 January 2011 to an area that was developed as another stage of the project;\n    (E) a fixed‑line network (or any part of a such a network) in existence immediately before 1 January 2011 which prior to that date was used to supply carriage services to residential customers and which has not been extended on or after 1 January 2011;\n    (F) a fixed‑line network (or any part of such a network) in existence immediately before 1 January 2011 which prior to that date was used to supply carriage services wholly or principally to residential customers and which is extended on or after 1 January 2011 by less than 1 kilometre from any point on the infrastructure of the network (as it stood immediately before 1 January 2011); and\n    (G) a fixed‑line network (or any part of such a network) which is:\n    (i) owned by a carrier that is also the primary universal service provider; and\n    (ii) built (including any extensions made to such a network of less than 1 kilometre from any point on the infrastructure of the network) between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2014 to enable the primary universal service provider to fulfil the universal service obligation; and\n    (c) is situated anywhere in Australia.\n\n> eligible service has the same meaning as in section 152AL of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.\n\n> employee, in respect of a wholesale or retail company, includes a natural person who is acting as an agent, or is engaged by the company as a consultant or contractor acting in an equivalent role to an employee or carrying out the role of an employee.\n\n> functional separation undertaking has the same meaning as in Part 8 of the Telecommunications Act 1997.\n\n> geographic extent means the physical location of infrastructure.\n\n> large charity customer means a customer that is an incorporated charitable organisation which employs 15 or more employees at any time.\n\n> Layer 2 has the same meaning as in the Open System Interconnection reference model for data exchange.\n\n> Layer 2 Wholesale Service means a Layer 2 bitstream service that has all of the following characteristics:\n\n    (a) a downstream data transfer rate of 25 megabits per second (peak information rate); and\n    (b) an upstream data transfer rate of 5 megabits per second (peak information rate); and\n    (c) is able to be used by a carrier or carriage service provider to supply carriage services, including voice telephony, to an end‑user.\n\n> local access line has the same meaning as in section 141D of the Act (as that section stood immediately before the commencement of Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Act 2020).\n\n> multi‑dwelling unit means a building or buildings where multiple separate units for occupation (from time to time) as a place of residence or business are contained within one complex.\n\n> national broadband network has the same meaning as in section 5 of the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011.\n\n> operational support systems means any system for service activation, customer support, billing and service fault rectification and similar functions and includes systems for maintaining and recording customer information.\n\n> permitted discrimination grounds means discrimination against a carrier or carriage service provider by a specified carrier (or wholesale company, as the case may be) where it has reasonable grounds to believe that the particular carrier or carriage service provider would fail, to a material extent, to comply with an obligation that is reasonably necessary to protect the carrier’s (or the wholesale company’s) legitimate interests.\n\nNote: For the purposes of the definition of permitted discrimination grounds, examples of grounds include evidence of lack of creditworthiness and repeated failures by the particular carrier or carriage service provider to comply with similar terms and conditions offered by the specified carrier (or wholesale company, as the case may be).\n\n> point of interconnection means a point within a carrier’s telecommunications network:\n\n    (a) for the interconnection of facilities by another carrier; and\n    (b) which is:\n    (i) located in each State or Territory capital city in which the carrier operates the designated telecommunications network and is reasonably accessible to the other carrier; or\n    (ii) another location as agreed between the carrier and the other carrier.\n\n> primary universal service provider has the meaning given in section 12A of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.\n\n> protected wholesale information means:\n\n    (a) confidential information obtained by the wholesale company for the purpose of, or in the course of, supplying carriage services to a wholesale customer that identifies the wholesale customer or a customer of that wholesale customer; or\n    (b) information obtained by the wholesale company for the purpose of, or in the course of, supplying carriage services to a wholesale customer that is commercially sensitive to a wholesale customer; or\n    (c) any confidential information or commercially sensitive information which is derived from information of the kind described in paragraph (a) or (b) above, whether or not in an aggregate form, that would enable the identity of a:\n    (i) wholesale customer to be ascertained; or\n    (ii) customer of a wholesale customer to be ascertained;\n  but does not include:\n    (d) information of the kind described in subparagraph (c)(i) above where the information is aggregated on a national basis; or\n    (e) information which is already public.\n\n> public body means:\n\n    (a) the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or\n    (b) a municipal authority or other local governing body; or\n    (c) a public authority that is constituted by or under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.\n\n> related body corporate has the same meaning as in section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001.\n\n> retail company means a company which has the following functions:\n\n    (a) selling and supplying eligible services to end‑user customers using the designated telecommunications network; and\n    (b) negotiating or establishing supply contracts with end‑user customers.\n\n> specified broadband service means a carriage service which has the following characteristics;\n\n    (a) it enables end‑users to download communications; and\n    (b) its download transmission speed is normally 6 megabits per second or more; and\n    (c) it is supplied using a line to premises occupied or used by an end‑user.\n\n> specified carrier means a carrier that either owns or operates a designated telecommunications network at any time on or after the commencement of this Declaration, and where the context permits, includes a wholesale company.\n\n> specified HFC network means:\n\n    (a) a telecommunications network that is used to supply carriage services and the line component of which consists of optical fibre to connecting nodes, supplemented by coaxial cable connections from the nodes to the premises of end‑users; and\n    (b) which was in existence prior to 1 January 2011. For the avoidance of doubt, any extensions to such a network made on or after 1 January 2011 are to be treated as forming part of a ‘specified HFC network’ for the purposes of this Determination.\n\n> superfast carriage service has the same meaning as in subsection 141(10) of the Act (as that section stood immediately before the commencement of Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Act 2020).\n\n> universal service obligation has the meaning given in section 9 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.\n\n> wholesale company means a company which has the following functions:\n\n    (a) selling and supplying eligible services to carriers, carriage service providers and the retail company (wholesale customers) using the designated telecommunications network; and\n    (b) where required, providing (or arranging for the provision of) service activation and network provisioning, and fault detection, handling and rectification and similar functions, in respect of the designated telecommunications network; and\n    (c) negotiating or establishing access agreements with its wholesale customers. For the avoidance of doubt, additional functions of the wholesale company may include controlling or operating the designated telecommunications network but these are not mandatory functions.\n\nNote: Several other words and expressions used in this Declaration have the same meaning given by the Telecommunications Act 1997 (paragraph 13(1)(b) of the Legislation Act 2003). For example:\n\n‑ carriage service;\n\n‑ carriage service provider;\n\n‑ carrier;\n\n‑ customer cabling;\n\n‑ customer equipment;\n\n‑ facility;\n\n‑ main distribution frame;\n\n‑ real estate development project; and\n\n‑ telecommunications network.\n\n  (2) Where the specified carrier uses a designated telecommunications network to supply carriage services to carriers or carriage service providers, and those carriers and carriage service providers:\n    (a) are each:\n    (i) related body corporates of the specified carrier; or\n    (ii) within the same company group of companies as the specified carrier; and\n    (b) supply carriage services to residential customers;\n  the operations of the designated telecommunications network will not be treated as being on a wholesale‑only basis for the purposes of subsections 6(6) and 6(5A) of this Declaration.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Application","content":"#### 5 Application\n\n  (1) A carrier licence granted to any specified carrier is subject to the conditions set out in section 6 if, at any time, on or after the commencement of this Declaration one or more local access lines forming part of a designated telecommunications network are used by the specified carrier or any of its associates to supply superfast carriage services or specified broadband services to residential customers, and:\n    (a) the network came into existence before the designated commencement date; and\n    (b) the network has not been altered, upgraded or extended on or after the designated commencement date; and\n    (c) no functional separation undertaking relating to local access lines forming part of the designated telecommunications network given by the specified carrier or any of its associates is in force.\n  (2) A reference in paragraph (1)(c) to a functional separation undertaking given by a specified carrier or an associate of the specified carrier is a reference to a functional separation undertaking given by the specified carrier or the associate (as the case may be) either:\n    (a) alone; or\n    (b) jointly with one or more other persons.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Class Licence Conditions","content":"#### 6 Class Licence Conditions\n\n  (1) The specified carrier must:\n    (c) from 1 July 2015 comply with each of the conditions set out in subsections (5), (5A), (6), (7), and (8); and\n    (d) within 20 days of the conditions set out in this Declaration applying to the specified carrier in respect of its operations of a designated telecommunications network provide the ACCC with written notice of this.\n  General separation and supply obligations\n  (5) The specified carrier must not use or permit any of its associates to use any local access line forming part of the designated telecommunications network to supply a carriage service unless all the conditions specified in subsection (6) are met.\n  (5A) To the extent that the specified carrier’s operations of one or more designated telecommunications networks are conducted on a wholesale‑only basis, the specified carrier must, within 30 days of the Amending Instrument coming into effect and every 6 months thereafter, provide the ACCC with a statement from two or more of its Directors:\n    (a) setting out the following details:\n    (i) the specified carrier’s name and Australian Company Number (ACN);\n    (ii) for each designated telecommunications network in existence as at the date of the statement:\n    A. the technology type of the network;\n    B. the geographic extent of the network\n    C. the total number of carriage services in operation on the network as at the date of the statement; and\n    D. the estimated total number of addressable premises technically capable of being served by the network;\n    E. the names and ACNs (where applicable) of each carriage service provider supplied with one or more eligible services using the designated telecommunications network during:\n    I. the period commencing on 1 January 2017 and ending on date of the statement – for the first statement; and\n    II. the period commencing 6 months before the date of the relevant statement and ending on the date of the statement – for each subsequent statement; and\n    (b) declaring that each designated telecommunications network has not been used by the specified carrier to supply eligible services to any of its associates at any time during which section 5 of this Declaration has applied to the specified carrier in respect of those networks.\n  (5AA) The statement to be provided in accordance with subsection 6(5A) must be in a form (if any) specified in writing by the ACCC.\n  (6) To the extent that the operations of the specified carrier (and its associates) in respect of the designated telecommunications network are not operated on a wholesale‑only basis, the specified carrier must ensure that all of the conditions set out in paragraphs (a)‑(r) below are satisfied:\n    (a) the specified carrier must not supply eligible services using the designated telecommunications network to the retail company unless the specified carrier is also the wholesale company;\n    (b) the wholesale operations of the designated telecommunications network must be conducted through the wholesale company and the retail operations must be conducted through the retail company;\n    (c) the wholesale company and retail company must:\n    (i) each operate separate operational support systems; and\n    (ii) either operate:\n    (A) separate business and communication systems; or\n    (B) shared business and communication systems but only if they are not used by the wholesale company in any manner which has (or potentially has) the effect of discriminating in favour of the retail company in respect of the supply of eligible services or in carrying on any of activities listed at subparagraph (6)(m)(ii);\n    (d) the specified carrier must provide to the ACCC a statutory declaration made in accordance with the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 (Cth) by a director or company secretary of the specified carrier, that the wholesale company (at all relevant times) has operated the systems in accordance the condition in sub‑subparagraph (6)(c)(ii)(B) by 30 June and 30 December of each calendar year;\n    (e) the specified carrier must provide (and ensure that the wholesale company provides) all reasonable assistance and responds to any reasonable request made by the ACCC for the purposes of any audits undertaken by the ACCC to verify compliance with sub‑subparagraph (6)(c)(ii)(B) by the ACCC;\n    (f) the wholesale company must operate a single business‑to‑business interface for use by its retail company and other carriers and service providers for ordering eligible services that are to be supplied using the designated telecommunications network;\n    (g) the wholesale company must not perform any function of the retail company;\n    (h) the retail company must not perform any function of the wholesale company;\n    (i) the offer and supply of eligible services using the designated telecommunications network to a person who is a carrier or a carriage service provider using the designated telecommunications network must be effected through the wholesale company;\n    (j) in respect of eligible services the retail company acquires directly from the wholesale company for the purposes of its business, the offer and supply of eligible services to end‑user customers using the designated telecommunications network must be effected through the retail company;\n    (k) the wholesale company must publish in a prominent place on its website and provide to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission within 5 business days of publication, the terms and conditions (price and non‑price) on which it supplies the eligible services (including the Layer 2 Wholesale Service) using the designated telecommunications network;\n    (l) the wholesale company must:\n    (i) supply eligible services (including the Layer 2 Wholesale Service) using the designated telecommunications network;\n    (ii) give access to any necessary facilities and permit interconnection of those facilities at a nominated point of interconnection;\n    (iii) offer necessary connectivity to a relevant point of interconnection for the relevant local access line; and\n    (iv) provide information about the types of customer equipment, and supply any proprietary customer equipment, needed for the supply of carriage services to an end‑user; and\n    (v) in the case where the service is proposed to be supplied to a premises in a multi‑dwelling unit, give access to relevant customer cabling controlled by the wholesale company (or its associate);\n  to the retail company and other carriers and carriage service providers;\n    (m) in fulfilling the supply obligations under paragraph (l), the wholesale company must not discriminate:\n    (i) in favour of the retail company in relation to the supply of an eligible service, including in respect of any price and non‑price terms and conditions for such supply (other than on permitted discrimination grounds);\n    (ii) in favour of the retail company in carrying on any of the following activities:\n    (A) enhancing an eligible service;\n    (B) developing a new eligible service ;\n    (C) extending or enhancing the capability of a facility by means of which an eligible service is supplied;\n    (D) an activity that is preparatory to the supply of an eligible service;\n    (E) an activity that is incidental to the supply of an eligible service; and\n    (F) giving information to carriers and carriage service providers about any of the above activities listed at subparagraphs (6)(m)(ii) ;\n    (iii) between wholesale customers (carriers and carriage service providers) requesting services (other than on permitted discrimination grounds) in relation to:\n    (A) the supply of an eligible service, including in respect of any price and non‑price terms and conditions for such supply; and\n    (B) the carrying on any of activities listed at subparagraph (6)(m)(ii);\n    (n) at any given time, a person appointed as director of the wholesale company (or the retail company, as the case may be) must not be appointed as a director of the other company;\n    (o) at any given time, a person occupying a senior management position with the wholesale company (or the retail company, as the case may be) must not hold any senior management position with the other company;\n    (p) an employee of the wholesale company (or the retail company, as the case may be) must not be employed by the other company;\n    (q) the wholesale company (including any of its directors, senior management and employees) must not disclose protected wholesale information to the retail company (including any of its directors, senior management and employees) unless authorised by the respective wholesale customer to do so; and\n    (r) where the wholesale company discloses, where permitted, protected wholesale information to an associate of the wholesale company, the associate must not disclose protected wholesale information to the retail company (including any of its directors, senior management and employees) unless authorised by the respective wholesale customer to do so.\n  Layer 2 Wholesale Service Supply Obligation\n  (7) At all times during which the Layer 2 Wholesale Service is not a declared service, the specified carrier must ensure that the wholesale company offers to supply, upon reasonable request by another carrier or carriage service provider, a Layer 2 Wholesale Service using the designated telecommunications network.\n  (8) The price offered for the supply of the Layer 2 Wholesale Service (in accordance with subsection (7)) must not be more than $27 (exclusive of GST) per service on a monthly basis in relation to the use of the local access line.","sortOrder":3}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":8,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original 2014 Declaration established structural separation requirements for carriers supplying superfast services to residential customers. However, the instrument has been significantly modified by the 'Amending Instrument' (Amendment No.1 of 2016) referenced throughout, and contains extensive transitional provisions tied to the 'designated commencement date' (Schedule 2 of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Act 2020). The scope has expanded from a simple structural separation regime to include: (1) wholesale-only operation pathways as an alternative to full structural separation; (2) detailed Layer 2 Wholesale Service supply obligations with price caps; (3) extensive reporting requirements to the ACCC; and (4) complex grandfathering provisions for networks built before 2011. The legislation now functions as a hybrid regime accommodating multiple regulatory frameworks (pre-2020 and post-2020) simultaneously."},"complexity_factors":["27 defined terms in section 4, many with nested sub-definitions spanning multiple paragraphs (e.g., 'designated telecommunications network' has 7 sub-clauses with multiple exceptions)","Extensive cross-referencing to at least 6 other Acts: Telecommunications Act 1997, Competition and Consumer Act 2010, National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011, Corporations Act 2001, Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999, A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999","Temporal complexity with multiple commencement dates and transitional provisions (references to 'designated commencement date', pre-2011 networks, 2011-2014 extensions, 2015 compliance dates, 2017 reporting periods)","Nested conditional logic in section 5 with 3 cumulative conditions (a, b, c) plus alternative conditions in subsection (2)","Section 6 contains 18 separate operational conditions (paragraphs a-r) with multiple sub-paragraphs, some containing alternatives (e.g., 6(c)(ii)(A) vs (B))","Exception to exception structure in 'designated telecommunications network' definition (exclusions from exclusions in sub-paragraphs b(iii)(A)-(G))","Dual regulatory pathways: wholesale-only operations vs structurally separated operations with different compliance obligations","Incorporation of external concepts by reference (Open System Interconnection reference model, 'declared service' from Part XIC of CCA)","Complex personnel restrictions (directors, senior management, employees, contractors) with cross-company prohibitions in section 6(n)-(p)"],"plain_english_summary":"This law forces carriers that own high‑speed residential networks to separate wholesale and retail businesses, require the wholesale arm to sell equivalent access to rival ISPs on published terms, and report to the ACCC. It targets major network owners and the retailers and competitors that rely on their infrastructure.\n\nIt preserves retail competition by preventing infrastructure owners from favouring their own shops, protecting consumer choice and fair prices."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This version extends the instrument beyond a simple non‑discrimination/structural separation rule in several concrete ways: it adds recurring director/board-level attestations and periodic director statements (increasing ongoing compliance); it creates a specifically defined Layer 2 Wholesale Service supply obligation and attaches a fixed $27/month price cap to that product while it is not a declared service (sections 6(7)–(8)); and it formalises a detailed suite of publication, audit‑support and information‑protection rules (sections 6(6)(k), (d)–(e), (q)–(r)). Those additions broaden the instrument from a baseline separation mandate to a sustained operational, pricing and reporting regime that imposes ongoing administrative and commercial constraints on affected carriers."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive definitions section with many technical and legal terms (around 40 defined items, including cross‑references to other Acts) (section 4).","Multiple cross‑references to external legislation and specific sections (Telecommunications Act 1997, Competition and Consumer Act 2010, National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011) creating dependency on external definitions and historical text positions (section 4 definitions).","Conditional application rules that hinge on network age, upgrade/extensions after a designated commencement date, and existence of any functional separation undertaking (section 5).","Nested and detailed operational separation rules with many sub‑conditions (section 6(6)(a)–(r)), including corporate governance, staff and systems separation, information‑flow restrictions, and publication obligations.","Ongoing recurring compliance and reporting obligations (twice‑yearly statutory declarations; six‑monthly director statements where wholesale‑only) and ACCC audit cooperation (sections 6(5A), 6(6)(d)–(e)).","Specific commodity‑style obligation (Layer 2 Wholesale Service) combined with a numeric price cap tied to the service’s regulatory status, producing interaction effects with Part XIC declared service status (sections 6(7)–(8)).","Exemptions and exclusions list in the definition of designated network that creates many conditional forks (section 4: subparagraphs (b)(i)–(iii) and (c)).","References to an Amending Instrument and a designated commencement date introduce temporal complexity and potential versioning differences (section 4: defined terms)."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this instrument does (mechanics)\n\n- It imposes licence conditions on carriers that own or operate certain fixed‑line networks used to supply \"superfast\" or specified broadband services to residential customers. (See definition of \"specified carrier\" and \"designated telecommunications network\" in section 4 and application in section 5.)\n\n- The conditions require structural and operational separation between a carrier's wholesale arm (the \"wholesale company\") and retail arm (the \"retail company\") for those networks that do not operate on a wholesale‑only basis. The separation covers corporate roles, systems, information flows and commercial offers. (See the separation and supply rules in section 6(6)(a)–(r).)\n\n- The wholesale company must publish the terms (price and non‑price) on which it supplies eligible wholesale services (including a defined Layer 2 bitstream product) and must offer a Layer 2 Wholesale Service on reasonable request while that service is not a \"declared service\" under competition law. (See section 6(6)(k) and (7).)\n\n- There is a hard cap on the monthly price for the Layer 2 Wholesale Service: no more than $27 per service per month (exclusive of GST) while subsection (7) applies. (See section 6(8).)\n\n- The specified carrier must notify the ACCC within 20 days of the conditions applying, and the instrument creates ongoing reporting and audit support obligations (statutory declarations twice a year, and where operations are wholesale‑only, periodic director statements). The ACCC can require specified forms and conduct audits. (See section 6(1)(d), 6(5A)–(5AA), 6(6)(d)–(e).)\n\n- The instrument sets out detailed definitions and exclusions for what counts as a \"designated telecommunications network\" (for example, networks that are part of the National Broadband Network, certain HFC networks, and pre‑2011 private networks are excluded). (See section 4 definitions.)\n\n\nWho it affects\n\n- Specified carriers: carriers that own or operate a defined \"designated telecommunications network\" and that use that network to supply superfast or specified broadband services to residential customers. (Definitions in section 4; application in section 5.)\n\n- Wholesale company and retail company entities that are set up by, or associated with, the specified carrier. The rules directly regulate their corporate structure, staff appointments, systems and information‑sharing practices. (Section 6(6)(b)–(r).)\n\n- Competing carriers and carriage service providers who seek wholesale access to the specified carrier’s network (they gain rights to request a Layer 2 Wholesale Service and to buy eligible services offered by the wholesale company). (Sections 6(6)(f), (i), (l), (7).)\n\n- End‑user residential customers are indirectly affected because the instrument influences wholesale supply conditions, pricing and market access that shape retail offers.\n\n\nWhy it matters (stated purpose and practical effects)\n\n- Stated or implicit purpose: to require operational separation and non‑discriminatory wholesale access so that other carriers and service providers can obtain network inputs on fair terms, and to ensure availability of a specified Layer 2 wholesale product at a capped monthly price while it is not regulated as a declared service. (Sections 6(6)(m), (7), (8).)\n\n- How that purpose translates into costs, incentives and trade‑offs:\n  - Compliance costs and management attention: carriers must keep separate systems or demonstrate to the ACCC that shared systems are not used in a discriminatory way, file statutory declarations twice yearly, support ACCC audits and (if wholesale‑only) produce director statements every six months. These are recurring administrative and audit costs (see sections 6(5A), 6(6)(c)–(e), 6(6)(d)).\n  - Limits on corporate flexibility: directors, senior managers and employees cannot hold equivalent positions across the wholesale and retail companies (sections 6(6)(n)–(p)). That narrows options for integrated corporate organisation and internal cost‑sharing.\n  - Information‑flow constraints: the wholesale company may not disclose \"protected wholesale information\" to the retail company except with authorisation from the wholesale customer (section 4 definition of \"protected wholesale information\" and section 6(6)(q)–(r)). This protects wholesale customers’ commercially sensitive data but adds operational restrictions.\n  - Price constraint on a specific product: the $27/month cap on the Layer 2 Wholesale Service (section 6(8)) directly reduces the potential wholesale revenue per service while the service is not regulated under the declared‑service regime. That lowers the wholesale company’s return on that product and changes incentives for investment in capacity or enhancements targeted at that product.\n  - Non‑discrimination standard with permitted exceptions: the wholesale company must not discriminate in favour of the retail company when supplying eligible services or engaging in related development/enhancement activities, except on \"permitted discrimination grounds\" such as demonstrable creditworthiness concerns (section 6(6)(m); definition of \"permitted discrimination grounds\" in section 4). This preserves some commercial judgment about counterparty risk but restricts preferential internal treatment.\n\n\nWho pays, who decides, and intended behaviour changes\n\n- Who pays: compliance and reporting costs are borne by the specified carrier (and its wholesale and retail companies). The price cap reduces revenue the wholesale company can collect from wholesale customers for the Layer 2 product.\n\n- Who decides: the specified carrier and its appointed wholesale and retail companies must implement the separation, publish terms, and supply services; the ACCC receives notices, statements and declarations, may specify reporting forms, and conducts audits to verify compliance (sections 6(1)(d), 6(5A), 6(6)(d)–(e)). Wholesale customers can decide whether to request the Layer 2 Wholesale Service; the wholesale company must supply it on reasonable request while subsection (7) applies.\n\n- Behaviour changes the instrument enforces: carriers must reorganise internal operations to separate wholesale and retail functions, publish wholesale terms publicly, supply a Layer 2 product to competitors on request at or below the capped price, avoid preferential treatment of their retail arm, and limit information sharing between wholesale and retail.\n\n\nImplementation risks and operational notes\n\n- Enforcement relies on a mix of self‑certification (statutory declarations and director statements), ACCC audits and publication requirements. The ACCC has discretion to set forms and to request assistance (sections 6(5A), 6(5AA), 6(6)(d)–(e)).\n\n- Practical tension: the requirement to either operate separate systems or to demonstrate that shared systems are non‑discriminatory (section 6(6)(c)(ii)(A)/(B)) creates a compliance test that can be operationally complex and may produce disputes about what constitutes discriminatory use.\n\n- The $27 price cap applies only while the Layer 2 Wholesale Service is not a declared service (sections 6(7)–(8)). If that service is later declared under Part XIC of the Competition and Consumer Act, different regulated pricing processes may apply.\n\n\nShort practical checklist for a carrier that may be affected\n\n- Identify whether your network meets the definition of a \"designated telecommunications network\" (section 4) and whether the application tests in section 5 are met.\n- If conditions apply, provide the ACCC with the notice within 20 days (section 6(1)(d)).\n- Separate wholesale and retail functions in accordance with section 6(6) or be prepared to document and certify non‑discriminatory shared systems.\n- Publish wholesale terms on the wholesale company’s website and supply the Layer 2 product on reasonable request at or below $27/month while it is not declared (sections 6(6)(k), (7), (8)).\n- Put in place processes for statutory declarations, director statements and ACCC audit cooperation (sections 6(5A), 6(6)(d)–(e))."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/carrier-licence-conditions-networks-supplying-superfast-carriage-services-to-residential-customers-d","history":"/api/acts/carrier-licence-conditions-networks-supplying-superfast-carriage-services-to-residential-customers-d/history","analysis":"/api/acts/carrier-licence-conditions-networks-supplying-superfast-carriage-services-to-residential-customers-d/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/carrier-licence-conditions-networks-supplying-superfast-carriage-services-to-residential-customers-d/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/carrier-licence-conditions-networks-supplying-superfast-carriage-services-to-residential-customers-d/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/carrier-licence-conditions-networks-supplying-superfast-carriage-services-to-residential-customers-d/documents"}}