The tribunal had found that this proposed agreement would provide Telstra with substantial commercial and competitive benefits
Australian operators Telstra and TPG Telecom said they will not appeal the country’s competition tribunal’s decision to block an asset transfer deal between the two companies.
In a statement, Telstra stated it won’t appeal the tribunal’s move to back a decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to block a proposed regional infrastructure sharing arrangement.
Telstra did not provide details about its decision to not appeal the tribunal’s decision in its exchange filing.
In a separate statement, TPG Telecom confirmed it will not appeal the tribunal’s ruling affirming the previous ACCC’s decision not to authorize the network-sharing agreement between the two telcos.
TPG Telecom also said it will continue to “explore commercial options to expand its mobile network, which currently reaches 96% of Australia’s population.”
In June, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) noted that the competition tribunal had backed its previous decision of not granting authorization for the proposed regional spectrum arrangements between the two operators.
On December 23, 2022, Telstra and TPG applied to the tribunal for review of the ACCC’s decision of not allowing the telcos to proceed with the proposed agreement. ACCC had blocked the proposal in December last year, as it believed that the deal would not result in the competition benefits claimed by both carriers.
The tribunal denied authorization because it was not satisfied that the proposed arrangements were not likely to have the effect of a substantial lessening of competition in the local mobile market, ACCC said.
The body said that the proposed agreement would give Telstra substantial benefits and increase its market strength on the retail and wholesale mobile markets, and would undermine rival operator Optus’ incentives to invest in 5G technology.
The tribunal found that this proposed agreement would provide Telstra with substantial commercial and competitive benefits and would further increase Telstra’s position of market strength in the Australian mobile telecommunications market, ACCC added.
Last year, Telstra and TPG Telecom had announced a ten-year regional Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) commercial agreement.
Under the terms of the deal, TPG Telecom was expected to secure access to around 3,700 of Telstra’s mobile network assets, increasing TPG Telecom’s current 4G coverage from around 96% to 98.8% of the population.
Meanwhile, Telstra was expected to gain access to TPG Telecom’s spectrum across 4G and 5G, which will allow it to grow its network and increase capacity.
Under the MOCN arrangement, Telstra planned to share its Radio Access Network (RAN) for 4G and subsequently 5G services in the defined coverage zone. The arrangements stipulated that both carriers would continue to operate their own core network infrastructure.
Telstra is the largest operator in Australia, with a total of 17.8 million subscribers as of the end of June 2023. Singtel-owned Optus had 10.3 million and TPG Telecom 5.4 million.
