Data retention grants get cool response from ISP sector

The federal government has established a $128.4m grants program for the telecommunications industry’s mandatory data retention scheme, but industry groups have objected to the scale of the funding and the delay providing details of the program.

The Data Retention Industry Grants Program will provide funding to help ISPs bear the costs of implementing data retention functionality.

But Internet Australia noted that the size of the fund is only around a third of the estimated full implementation costs of the data retention scheme, as calculated by PwC at the government’s request.

“What’s not covered is the significant operational expenses involved in complying with the scheme,” IA CEO Laurie Patton noted.

“So apart from having to cough up 20% of their upfront costs, ISPs will be out of pocket on an ongoing basis. As we have previously pointed out, it is inevitable that the costs imposed on the industry by the government will be passed on to consumers.”

Communications Alliance, the industry body representing Australia’s telecom sector, has meanwhile objected to the lengthy delays in finalising the grants process.

“The government appears to have done a reasonable job of apportioning the limited funds available, particularly among smaller providers, although some of the larger players face heavy unfunded expenses to meet their compliance requirements,” Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton said.

“But the lengthy delay in finalising the grants process has put many services providers under immense pressure to complete, on time, the work to enable them to comply with this regime.”

Patton said the delays providing the grant information has left ISPs footing the bill for equipment without knowing how much funding they might receive.

“This has caused considerable unnecessary stress to our ISP members. It compounds a litany of issues with this legislation that we have consistently maintained is fundamentally flawed,” he said.

Both Internet Australia and Communications Alliance have argued that in light of the delays, ISPs failing to fully comply with the data retention regulations by the time of the April 2017 deadline should be treated with “regulatory restraint”.

Image credit: ©FreeImages.com/Flavio Takemoto