Telstra completes structural separation compliance program

Telstra has completed a long-running project designed to make itself compliant with its Structural Separation Undertaking (SSU) obligations to the ACCC.

Telstra made the undertakings as part of the agreement to structurally separate its wholesale and retail operations. But once the SSU took effect in 2012, Telstra reported a series of information security issues that still needed to be addressed.

Compliance issues largely revolved around Telstra’s legacy IT systems not being designed to keep sensitive wholesale customer information out of the hands of Telstra’s retail business.

In response, Telstra conducted a lengthy project to address these issues. As part of this process, Telstra engaged an independent expert consultant to review the remediation project.

“The ACCC is pleased that Telstra’s long-running project to achieve compliance with its SSU has concluded,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“The ACCC is now satisfied that Telstra’s SSU reporting measures can be relied on to identify any further information security issues, should they arise.”

A Rudd government initiative, Telstra’s SSU was designed to address longstanding complaints that Telstra’s position as a former fixed-line monopoly gave it an unfair advantage over smaller rivals due to the company operating in both the retail and wholesale markets.

The SSU is designed to safeguard competition until Telstra migrates its fixed-line customers onto the NBN.

Image courtesy of darth41 under CC