On 26 October 2016, the ACCC released a discussion paper seeking views on a range of issues relevant to whether the ACCC should declare a domestic mobile roaming service. Submissions to the ACCC on the subject are posted on the ACCC’s web site HERE.
On 2 December Communications Minister Mitch Fifield formally wrote to the ACCC Chairman Rod Sims on the subject. Fifield’s letter which makes some good points is HERE.
Vodafone has been the most vocal advocate for declared roaming. As the operator which has spent the least by an actual country mile on regional coverage in Australia the advantage which gaining access to Telstra and, to a lesser extent, Optus’ far wider coverage footprint is obvious. TPG, either riding as an MVNO on Vodafone’s network, or potentially as a MNO would also gain greatly from declared roaming so has publicly supported it – MRDA
Tesltra, which has most to lose, and Optus have joined the shouting match on the other side claiming that their incentive to invest in rural areas would be greatly reduced or removed altogether if they were forced to carry their competitors along. This is a point which is not lost on many regional organisations. Telstra asserts that any lack of choice of operators in regional Australia is “the result of decisions by our competitors to not invest in those areas”.