Telstra's nbn migration variation approved by ACCC

The ACCC has approved Telstra’s proposed variation to the nbn migration plan for special services — businesses communications services delivered over copper — to allow a longer time frame for migration when needed.

The regulator has agreed to allow an In Train Order (ITO) process to be established that will provide business customers with a longer period before the scheduled disconnection of their services, as long as a valid order for migration to the nbn is in place prior to this date.

It will provide an up to 170 business-days extension before disconnection of services will commence.

The special services covered by the amended migration plan include copper-based Ethernet Lite, Frame Relay, ISDN and Customnet products.

Businesses in areas with a scheduled disconnection date of 12 November will need to have an order in place for an nbn service before this time to take advantage of the new process. Orders placed after 12 November will not have access to the process, but nbn co plans to commence deferred disconnection activity after 29 January.

The variation submitted by Telstra also includes new measures such as extending ITO arrangements for residential services and disconnection arrangements for premises with connected fire alarms and lift phones.

In a statement, nbn co said it welcomes the approval of the new ITO process for special services, stating that it will provide an additional safeguard to help ensure businesses do not experience disruption during the transition to the nbn.

“This is an extension of the existing copper-based disconnections process that has proven to work well for several years now,” the company said.

“Our team has been working productively alongside the industry for more than three years to prepare for the migration of special services — during this time we have enhanced our processes and systems to help ensure we have the support needed to connect these customers and that retailers had sufficient notice to inform their customers of the disconnection date.”

Image courtesy nbn co.

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