RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation 1
The Committee recommends that Clause 6 of the Telecommunications
(Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 1997 require that customers
be informed of all service provider obligations and penalties under the
Standard
and
That Section 480 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 be
amended to require providers of all services subject to the Telecommunications
Industry Ombudsman's jurisdiction to supply to each customer a reasonable
summary of the terms and conditions on which the service is supplied (and
an updated summary where those terms and conditions change), including
all service provider obligations and penalties set under any Customer
Service Guarantee standard under section 234.
Recommendation 2
The Committee recommends that the penalty for failure to meet the
Customer Service Guarantee standard in non-metropolitan areas be amended
so that after a week, the $11 per day penalty could for example, accelerate
incrementally or to $100 per day for each extra day that the service is
not provided.
Recommendation 3
The Committee recommends that a portion of the proceeds from the sale
of the remaining two-thirds of the Telstra Corporation Ltd be used to
upgrade the existing infrastructure available for telecommunications services
in rural areas.
Recommendation 4
The Committee recommends that schools, and in particular rural schools,
be given the option of having access to telephone services at the rate
Telstra charges residential customers, rather than being required to pay
commercial business rates.
Recommendation 5
The Committee recommends that the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission's (ACCC) powers in relation to record-keeping rules be amended
or clarified as necessary to ensure that the costs associated with Telstra's
internal transfer prices are made known in the context of negotiations
over cost-based pricing of access to telecommunications infrastructure.
Recommendation 6
The Committee recommends that the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) be empowered to direct the publication of information
kept in accordance with the record-keeping rules.
Recommendation 7
The Committee recommends that parties adversely affected by anti-competitive
conduct should be able to take action against it under Part XIB of the
Trade Practices Act 1974, whether or not the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a competition notice.
Recommendation 8
The Committee reports to the Senate that it has considered the Telstra
(Transition to Full Private Ownership) Bill 1998 and recommends that the
Bill proceed, subject to the amendments recommended in this Report.