The Australian government has released draft legislation for the deregulation of the telecommunications industry from July 1997. The government said it hoped to introduce the bill into parliament in November and would like it to pass the upper house, the Senate, before the end of the year. Key details of the draft legislation include carriers not permitted to introduce timed local calls except for business users of the Internet and other data-based services. The analog mobile phone network will be phased out by the year 2000. The current price cap on state-owned carrier Telstra Corp to remain until at least December 1998. Choice for consumers of service provider should be on a call-by-call basis. There should be an itemized billing optio n and a right to install telecommunications infrastructure for a company’s own use, and there should only be a need to apply for a license in order to supply services to the public. Other details include rules regarding licenses, access fees and fees to be paid by secondary carriers.
