ACCC hits Telstra … for $6.5m (The Age / Bridie Smith)
From the article: “Telstra has avoided fines of more than $300million after allegations of anti-competitive behaviour relating to its wholesale pricing of broadband technology were investigated by the competition watchdog.
In announcing the decision yesterday, following a year-long investigation, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ordered Telstra to rebate $6.5million to its affected wholesale customers and reduce its wholesale digital subscriber line (DSL) pricing by January 1 next year.“
This is certainly a very disappointing outcome for the ISP industry and consumers in general. When you’re a company the size of Telstra $6.5 million can easily be written off as a cost associated with attracting new customers. An advertising expense of sorts. Clearly the ACCC is unable or unwilling to tackle Telstra and ensure fairness in the industry.