Telecommunications Performance Bulletin 2008-09

Commentary and analysis for: 1. Customer Service Guarantee 2. Priority assistance 3. Payphones 4. Network Reliability Framework

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Published by the Australian Communications and Media Authority Contents

Executive summary 1 Customer Service Guarantee 1 Priority assistance 2 Payphones 2 Network Reliability Framework 2

Customer Service Guarantee 3 Background 3 The ACMA’s approach to monitoring CSG performance 4 Contextual considerations 5 Universal service obligation 5 Data limitations 5 CSG-eligible services in operation 5 CSG connections 7 Telstra 7 Connection volumes 7 Connection performance 7 Late connections and extreme failures 9 Optus 11 Connection volumes 11 Connection performance 11 Late connections and extreme failures 13 AAPT 15 Connection volumes 15 Connection performance 16 CSG fault repairs 17 Telstra 17 Fault repair volumes 17 Fault repair performance 18 Late fault repairs and fault repair extreme failure 19 Optus 21 Fault repair volumes 21 Fault repair performance 21 Late fault repairs and fault repair extreme failures 22 AAPT 25

acma | iii Contents (Continued)

CSG compensation 26 Telstra 26 Optus 27 AAPT 28 Exemptions from the CSG Standard 29

Priority assistance 32 Background 32 Priority assistance – Number of Telstra customers 32 Priority assistance – Telstra connection performance 33 Volumes 33 Priority assistance – Telstra fault repair performance 35 Volumes 35 Performance 36

Public payphones 38 Background 38 Number of payphones and sites 38 Telstra's payphone rationalisation program 39 Payphone usage 39 Payphone fault repairs – Telstra 40

Network Reliability Framework 45 Background 45 Level 1 — Fault-free telephone services 46 Telephone service availability 47 Downtime for telephone services with faults 47 Level 2 — Worst performing cable runs 48 Level 3 — Individual service performance 48

Appendix A – CSG Standard timeframes and compensation levels as of October 2006 51

Appendix B – Telstra CSG data tables 52

Appendix C – Optus CSG data tables 63

Appendix D – AAPT CSG data tables 70

Appendix E – Priority assistance data tables 81 iv | acma Contents (Continued)

Appendix F – Payphone data tables 86

Appendix G – NRF data tables 89

Appendix H – Website addresses for further information 93

Appendix I – Abbreviations 94

Glossary 95

acma | v Executive summary

This Telecommunications Performance Bulletin 2008–09 provides commentary and analysis relating to the telecommunications performance data reported to the ACMA by Telstra, Optus and AAPT on: 5. the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) 6. Priority assistance 7. Payphones 8. the Network Reliability Framework (NRF).

The bulletin reports on data for the 2008–09 financial year. It also incorporates time series data, where relevant, to allow for consideration of performance trends.

While there is discussion of mandating benchmarks under the government’s regulatory reform package, these are not currently set in regulation. Therefore the benchmarks referred to in this document are set by the ACMA for performance monitoring purposes and based on recommendations by the Estens and other inquiries and informal agreements between the carriage service providers and government.

Overall, there has been an improvement in performance in the 2008–09 year.

Major points to note regarding performance are set out below:

Customer Service Guarantee 9. CSG performance levels have improved overall for the three major carriage service providers in 2008–09. At a national level, both Optus and AAPT were above the 90 per cent benchmark for in-place and new service connections. Telstra was above the benchmark for in place connections, and, while remaining below 90 per cent for new service connections in 2008–09 (at 88.3 per cent), performance has improved marginally, compared to 2007–08 (87.9 per cent). 10.Quarterly fault repair performance was variable, but improved across all areas, with performance at or above the 90 per cent benchmark for each quarter in rural areas and in all quarters except September 2008 in urban areas for both Optus and Telstra. Although performance in remote areas was generally lower for most indicators, it still showed improvement in comparison to 2007– 08. 11.While the number of compensation payments made by Telstra for not meeting CSG timeframes decreased, the average amount paid increased 13.8 per cent to $46 in the 2008–09 financial year. Optus recorded a decrease in both the number of payments made (down 53.6 per cent) and the average amount per payment (down 26.1 per cent to $61 per payment). The number of payments made by AAPT increased in 2008–09, as did the average compensation payment level (up 66.8 per cent to $118 per payment). 12.Telstra reported an increase in 2008–09 in the number of CSG extreme failures for both connections (up 79.0 per cent) and fault repair (up 14.8 per cent). 13.Optus reported a decrease in 2008–09 in the number of extreme failures for both connections (down 75.0 per cent) and fault repairs (down 64.5 per cent).

acma | 1 14.There was a drop in the number of exemptions from the CSG Standard declared by service providers for 2008–09, and a reduction in the average duration of each declared exemption by both Telstra and Optus.

Priority assistance 15.The number of Telstra priority assistance customers as at 30 June 2009 was 195,173 of whom 121,747 had provided documentation to validate their priority assistance status. Compared to 2007–08 data, this represents a 19.5 per cent increase in overall numbers of priority assistance customers and an increase of 4.3 per cent in validated priority assistance customers. 16.While generally below the 90 per cent benchmark in 2008–09, Telstra’s connection performance improved steadily, reaching the benchmark in both urban and rural areas in the June 2009 quarter. Fault repair performance was at or above 90 per cent in 2008–09 in urban and rural areas with the exception of rural performance in June 2009. Performance in remote areas for both connections and fault repairs was more variable, but remained below the benchmark in 2008–09, noting however the low volume of orders.

Payphones 17.The number of payphones (Telstra and other operators) has declined steadily over the past six years, with a 12.8 per cent reduction in the total number of payphones in 2008–09 to 39,328. Telstra and other operators have suggested this reflects a decreasing demand for payphone services. Payphone usage has declined, with the number of calls made from Telstra operated payphones decreasing by 14.4 per cent and the number made from privately own payphones declining by 19.3 per cent in 2008–09. 18.In 2008–09, Telstra removed 1,573 payphones from service, including 1,245 in urban areas, 276 in rural areas and 52 in remote areas. After its consultation processes, Telstra also cancelled the proposed removal of 202 payphones. 19.While payphone fault repair performance has been consistent and at a satisfactorily high level in urban and rural areas, performance in remote areas has been well below the 80 per cent benchmark used by the ACMA to monitor and assess performance for some time. However, performance in the June 2009 quarter returned to above 70 per cent for the first time since September 2007.

Network Reliability Framework 20.In 2008–09, the monthly average of Telstra’s services which did not experience a fault was 98.72 per cent. 21.In 2008–09, services were available on average for 99.91 per cent of each month. In 2008–09 it took an average 51 hours to restore services that had a fault. This is a decrease from 2007–08, where the average downtime for telephone services with a fault was 63 hours. 22.Telstra reported 497 cable runs as having completed remediation and monitoring during 2008–09, under the mandatory level 2 NRF reporting arrangements. Ninety-eight per cent of cable runs assessed during 2008–09 (following remediation) met the NRF reduction target. 23.Telstra reported 2,318 individual services contravening the performance thresholds for Level 3 NRF reporting in 2008–09. This is a 73 per cent increase by comparison with the previous year.

2 | acma acma | 3 Customer Service Guarantee

Background The Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2000 (No 2) (CSG Standard) seeks to encourage the timely provision and maintenance of standard telephone services (and certain enhanced call handling features) for residential customers and small business customers with five or less telephone lines.

The CSG specifies timeframes within which service providers must connect telephone services, repair faults, and arrive for any associated appointments. These timeframes vary depending on the type of request (for example, whether it is a connection or a repair; whether the location already has a connection in place; or whether the site is in an urban, rural or remote area).

There are two categories of connections: 24.an ‘in-place service connection’ is a connection at a premises where a previous telephone service has been installed and only requires an automatic re- connection (or re-activation) by a service provider and 25.a ‘new service connection’ is an initial connection of a telephone service to a premises and may involve the provision of a new network access line from the local exchange to the network boundary. For new service connections, the proximity of the premises to available network infrastructure also affects the connection timeframe target. If a service provider fails to meet a CSG timeframe, it is required to make an automatic compensation payment to the affected customer.

The connection and fault repair timeframes for telephone services can be found in Appendix A. Associated compensation payments for any failure to meet those timeframes, are shown in Table 1. If a provider is unable to connect or repair a service within the timeframes set out in the CSG Standard, it may offer a customer an interim or alternative service. The CSG Standard specifies that when a provider offers an alternative service1 it must also offer an interim service.2 Compensation under the CSG Standard is not payable from the date a customer receives an interim or alternative service. Customers may not be eligible for a compensation payment if a reasonable offer of an interim or alternative service has been made by the service provider.

1 An alternative service is a service that provides a customer with access to a telephone service (e.g. call diversion to a mobile telephone service or a second fixed telephone service). 2 An interim service is a service that provides a customer with a service for voice telephony (or ,for a customer with a disability, its equivalent), that is charged at no more than the amount the customer would have been charged if supplied with a CSG service on request (e.g. a mobile service at standard telephone service rates).

4 | acma More information regarding a ‘reasonable offer’ of an interim or alternative service is available on the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s website or in the CSG Standard.3

Table 1: CSG compensation rates Compensation per working day late or per appointment 1-5 days 6 or more days For residential customers and charities: Connection/repair of STS* $14.52 $48.40 Connection/repair of enhanced call $7.26 $24.20 handling features Connection/repair of two or more $14.52 $48.40 enhanced call handling features Late or missed appointment $14.52 per missed appointment For business customers: Connection/repair of STS $24.20 $48.40 Connection/repair of enhanced call $12.10 $24.20 handling features Connection/repair of two or more $24.20 $48.40 enhanced call handling features Late or missed appointment $24.20 per missed appointment * STS is a standard telephone service

A fault refers to the absence of a dial or ring tone, inability to make or receive calls, disruption to communications due to excessive noise levels, repetition of service cut offs, or another condition that makes the service wholly or partly unusable.

Depending on the location of the service and the details of the appointment timeframe, the CSG Standard defines different criteria for when an appointment between a customer and a service provider is deemed to be missed. If a service provider misses an appointment, the affected customer may be eligible for a compensation payment of $14.52 (if a residential customer or a charity) or $24.20 (if a small business customer). Specific grace periods (for example 15 or 45 minutes after the agreed appointment time) may be applied in particular circumstances.

The ACMA’s approach to monitoring CSG performance The ACMA considers a service provider’s performance against the CSG requirements to be at a satisfactory level when the required timeframes are met in 90 per cent4 or more of cases.

The ACMA monitors service providers’ performance quarterly and annually. When a service provider’s performance is below 90 per cent in two quarters, or shows a widespread decline, the ACMA may examine the possible causes for the poor performance and seek an explanation from the service provider about the reasons for the decline and the steps being taken to improve its performance in the affected area(s).

3 More information can be found in section 8 of the CSG Standard or at http://www.tio.com.au/POLICIES/CSG/Interim_alternative%20services%20and%20the%20CSG.htm . 4 The 90 per cent ‘benchmark’ used by the ACMA is not currently a statutory benchmark.

acma | 5 Contextual considerations Universal service obligation Telstra, as the universal service provider under the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999, must provide a standard telephone service on an equitable basis to all people in Australia regardless of their location. This means that it does not have the option of refusing to supply a service (for example in challenging physical circumstances such as in remote areas), whereas other services providers have this option.

Data limitations Service providers that do not operate their own customer access networks (such as AAPT) typically resell wholesale services supplied over other carriage service providers’ networks. While the obligation to meet CSG timeframes still exists, these resellers have commercial arrangements with the wholesale service provider to complete connections and repairs.

Some resellers are dependent on Telstra to provide the CSG performance data that the ACMA requests from each service provider. Some resellers do not have arrangements in place to obtain all the CSG data and so currently do not report against certain measures. Where data is available and has been provided to the ACMA, it has been reported in this bulletin.

CSG-eligible services in operation In 2008–09, Australia’s three largest carriage service providers (Telstra, Optus and AAPT) provided 7.445 million CSG telephone services. This represents a decrease of 3.9 per cent from the previous year. Since 2004–05, there has been a 13.2 per cent overall reduction in the number of CSG eligible services.

Table 2 shows the overall reduction in the number of CSG-eligible services (for Telstra, Optus and AAPT) from 8.5 million in 2004–05 to 7.4 million in 2008–09, with a small increase noted in 2007–08. Since 2004–05, Telstra services have decreased by approximately 650,000, Optus by 196,000, and AAPT by 291,000.

A large portion of this reduction may be attributable to increased use of mobile services as primary telephone services. Over a six-year period the number of mobile phone services in Australia has increased from approximately 14 million in 2002–03 to 24.22 million in June 2009. Furthermore, Optus has advised that it has essentially withdrawn from the resale market resulting in a reduction of CSG eligible services offered by Optus, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Table 2: Number of CSG-eligible services for Telstra, Optus and AAPT, ‘000s 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Telstra 6,930 6,740 6,313 6,383 6,280 Optus 1,111 1,129 993 1,035 915 AAPT 541 583 429 331 250 Total 8,582 8,452 7,735 7,749 7,445

6 | acma Tables 3, 4 and 5 show CSG-eligible services for each of the carriers, disaggregated into urban rural and remote categories.

Table 3: Telstra – CSG-eligible services by area Urban Rural Remote All areas 2004–05 5,454,144 1,450,223 26,009 6,930,376 2005–06 5,262,466 1,451,218 26,018 6,739,702 2006–07 4,869,148 1,422,447 20,908 6,312,503 2007–08 4,892,804 1,471,381 19,173 6,383,358 2008–09 4,922,003 1,340,575 18,283 6,280,861

Table 4: Optus – CSG-eligible services by area Urban Rural Remote All areas 2004–05 958,328 142,145 10,550 1,111,023 2005–06 981,707 136,938 10,038 1,128,683 2006–07 1,095,600 13,261 523 1,109,384 2007–08 1,023,545 10,872 397 1,034,814 2008–09 907,674 7,101 225 915,000

Table 5: AAPT – CSG-eligible services by area Urban Rural Remote All areas 2004–05 401,381 138,301 1,088 540,770 2005–06 432,009 149,766 1,040 582,815 2006–07 322,134 105,818 652 428,604 2007–08 250,742 79,540 468 330,750 2008–09 185,676 63,868 274 249,818

The data shows that Telstra remains the main provider to all area types. In 2008–09, there was an overall decrease in the number of CSG eligible service provided by Telstra. There was a 0.6 per cent increase in the number of CSG-eligible services supplied, an 8.9 per cent decrease in rural areas and a 4.6 per cent reduction in remote areas in 2008–09. Notwithstanding the slight increase in 2007–08, since 2004– 05 there has been an overall decrease of 9.4 per cent in Telstra’s number of CSG eligible services.

Optus reported a decline in the number of CSG eligible services supplied across all areas, with an 11.3 per cent decrease in urban areas, a 34.7 per cent decrease in rural areas and a 43.3 per cent decrease in remote areas in 2008–09. Since 2004–05, there has been an overall decrease of 17.6 per cent in Optus’ number of CSG eligible services. As noted above, Optus has advised that the decline in CSG eligible services offered in rural and remote areas can be attributed to Optus’ withdrawal from the resale market.

AAPT also reported a decline in the number of CSG eligible services across all areas with a 25.9 per cent decrease in urban areas, a 19.7 per cent decrease in rural areas and a 41.5 per cent decrease in remote areas. Since 2004–05, there has been an overall decrease of 53.8 per cent in AAPT’s number of CSG eligible services.

acma | 7 CSG connections

Telstra Table 6 contains the annual number of Telstra in-place and new service connections covered by the CSG and the percentage provided within CSG timeframes at a national level.

Table 6: Telstra — Number of CSG connections and percentage connected on time 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 In place connections: Connected in CSG timeframe 1,131,668 1,023,522 833,566 833,796 705,423 Total in-place connections 1,154,379 1,050,692 865,962 873,292 771,554 Percentage in CSG timeframe 98.0 97.4 96.3 95.5 91.4 New service connections: Connected in CSG timeframe 531,831 560,420 440,526 408,769 405,333 Total new service connections 572,382 589,012 468,188 465,133 458,932 Percentage in CSG timeframe 92.9 95.1 94.1 87.9 88.3 Total connections Total CSG connections 1,726,761 1,639,704 1,334,150 1,338,425 1,230,486 Percentage in CSG timeframe 96.3 96.6 95.5 92.8 90.3

Connection volumes There was a decline of eight per cent (or 107,939) in the number of connections undertaken by Telstra, from 1,338,425 in 2007–08 to 1,230,486 in 2008–09.

Connection performance Connection performance for in-place connections is consistently better than that for new service connections, reflecting the fact that in-place connections do not generally require attendance at the customer’s premises.

Figure 1 shows Telstra’s quarterly performance for in-place and new service connections.

Although in-place connections remained above the 90 per cent benchmark in 2008–09 there has been a steady decline over the period. However, while new service connections remained below the 90 per cent benchmark in 2008–09, they have shown a steady improvement over the same period, reaching 90 per cent in both the March 2009 and June 2009 quarters.

8 | acma Figure 1: Telstra – New service and In-place connection performance, 2005–06 to 2008–09

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n i 88 90% benchmark h t i 86 w

t 84 e

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In-place New service

Details of quarterly connection performance for the urban, major rural, minor rural and remote area classifications are contained in Table B.6 (Appendix B). Figure 2 shows Telstra’s quarterly performance for new service connections by area classifications.

Figure 2: Telstra – Percentage of new service connections met within CSG timeframes, quarterly

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Overall, performance has improved during the 2008–09 financial year in urban areas, minor rural areas and major rural areas. In urban areas, the per centage of new service connections met within CSG timeframes improved from a low of 80 per cent in June 2008, to reach the 90 per cent benchmark in June 2009.

Performance in both major rural and minor rural areas also improved consistently during 2008–09 from below the 90 per cent benchmark (87 per cent and 84 per cent respectively) in June 2008, to 91 per cent in major rural areas and 90 per cent minor rural areas in June 2009.

While performance in remote areas remained below the 90 per cent benchmark throughout 2008–09, it has improved steadily from 82 per cent in September 2008 to 88 per cent in June 2009.

acma | 9 The number of connections in remote areas is low when compared with other areas. In 2008–09, the total number of new service connections was 372,572 in urban areas (of which 43,744 were connected late), 37,187 in major rural areas (of which 3,875 were connected late), 47,284 in minor rural areas (of which 5,691 were connected late) and 1,889 in remote areas (of which 289 were connected late).

Late connections and extreme failures Table 7 sets out the volume of Telstra’s late connections on a quarterly basis. Since September 2004, over 98 per cent of connections have been met within five days of CSG timeframes. Extreme failure connections (shaded) are those made six or more days after the CSG timeframes.

Table 7: Telstra – Number of late CSG connections, quarterly Number of CSG connections Percenta Percentag ge of late e of total connectio 6 or more connectio ns Within 1–5 days days after ns classed classed CSG after CSG CSG as as Total CSG timeframe timeframe timefram extreme extreme connectio s s es failures* failures* ns Sep–04 431,957 8,308 626 0.14 7.0 440,891 Dec–04 412,244 9,076 845 0.20 8.5 422,165 Mar–05 399,026 7,846 964 0.24 10.9 407,836 Jun–05 383,711 7,559 764 0.19 9.2 392,034 Sep–05 364,327 6,633 570 0.15 7.9 371,530 Dec–05 339,855 6,510 541 0.16 7.7 346,906 Mar–06 343,949 7,198 623 0.18 8.0 351,770 Jun–06 330,194 7,166 775 0.23 9.8 338,135 Sep–06 336,999 7,480 776 0.22 9.4 345,255 Dec–06 312,221 7,865 946 0.29 10.7 321,032 Mar–07 333,764 9,465 992 0.29 9.5 344,221 Jun–07 312,494 10,030 1,118 0.35 10.0 323,642 Sep–07 331,894 12,819 1,930 0.56 13.1 346,643 Dec–07 313,964 15,160 1,918 0.58 11.2 331,042 Mar–08 332,513 9,613 1,289 0.38 11.8 343,415 Jun–08 293,304 20,113 3,908 1.23 16.3 317,325 Sep–08 294,460 18,662 4,658 1.47 20.0 317,780 Dec–08 274,570 18,162 4,583 1.54 20.1 297,315 Mar–09 294,468 14,595 3,900 1.25 21.1 312,963 Jun–09 284,246 14,119 3,054 1.01 17.8 301,419 * Extreme failures are connections made 6 or more days after the CSG timeframes.

While the instances of extreme failure have been low they provide an indicator of consumer disadvantage. It is noted that there may be extenuating circumstances that lead to an extreme failure, for example delays in obtaining land access approval, or the need to install new telecommunications infrastructure.

10 | acma Figure 3 charts the trend in the volume of CSG connections against the trend in occurrences of extreme failures.

Figure 3: Telstra – CSG connection volumes and connection extreme failure volumes

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CSG connections Extrem e failures

In 2008–09, there was a continuation of the steady downwards trend in the number of CSG connections. In contrast, the number of extreme failures increased by 79 per cent when compared with the previous year. This follows an increase of 136 per cent in the number of connection extreme failures in 2007–08.

In 2008–09, extreme weather events impacted upon the volume of extreme failures. In addition to this, Telstra advised that issues with the transition to its new IT and procedural systems impacted performance.

acma | 11 Optus Table 8 contains the annual number of Optus in-place and new service connections covered by the CSG and the percentage provided within the CSG timeframes at a national level. All of the data provided by Optus for connections covers activity on the Optus network only (located in urban areas across Australia) and excludes resale activity on Telstra and other networks in both urban and non-urban areas. More detailed Optus tables can be found in Appendix C.

Table 8: Optus – Number of own network CSG connections and the percentage connected on time 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 In-place connections: Connected in CSG timeframe 19,794 18,032 15,527 17,498 9,555 Total in-place connections 20,120 18,316 15,913 17,905 9,814 Percentage in CSG timeframe 98.4 98.4 97.6 97.7 97.4 New service connections: Connected in CSG timeframe 74,206 64,819 83,164 169,088 189,877 Total new service connections 74,559 65,373 90,920 194,750 197,904 Percentage in CSG timeframe 99.5 99.2 91.5 86.8 95.9 Total CSG connections 94,679 83,689 106,833 212,655 207,718 Percentage in CSG timeframe 99.3 99.0 92.4 87.7 96.0

Connection volumes Most CSG connections on Optus’ network in 2008–09 were new service connections, with the number of in-place connections decreasing by 45.2 per cent from 17,905 in 2007–08 to 9,814 in 2008–09. New service connections remained relatively stable with a slight increase of 1.6 per cent when compared with the previous year.

As shown in Tables C.2 and C.3 (Appendix C), this increased activity has been in relation to new service connections in all states. This is as a result of Optus’ roll out of unconditioned local loop (ULL) services in areas where it had previously only offered resale services.

Connection performance At the national level, Optus’ connection performance for 2008–09 was well above the 90 per cent benchmark for both new and in-place connections. There was little change for in-place connections, which remained stable and high in comparison to previous years. However, new service connections met within CSG timeframes increased by 9.1 per cent in comparison to 2007–08. This almost fully reversed the decline in performance seen since June 2006, with performance remaining above the 90 per cent benchmark for the entire period.

12 | acma Figure 4 shows the trend in new and in-place service connection performance, quarterly.

Figure 4: Optus – Percentage of own network new connections met within CSG timeframes, quarterly

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acma | 13 Late connections and extreme failures Table 9 shows the volumes of Optus’ late connections on a quarterly basis. The data is divided into late connections that were one to five days late, and extreme failures (shaded) that were six or more days late.

Table 9: Optus – Number of late new and in-place CSG connections on its own network, quarterly Number of CSG connections Percentage Percentage 6 or more of total of late Within 1–5 days days connections connections CSG after CSG after CSG classed as classed as Total CSG timefram timefram timefram extreme extreme connectio es es es failures* failures* ns Sep–04 23,911 213 25 0.10 10.5 24,149 Dec–04 23,431 155 20 0.08 11.4 23,606 Mar–05 22,822 155 12 0.05 7.2 22,989 Jun–05 23,835 87 10 0.04 10.3 23,932 Sep–05 22,609 85 8 0.04 8.6 22,702 Dec–05 19,903 120 16 0.08 11.8 20,039 Mar–06 18,835 289 28 0.15 8.8 19,152 Jun–06 21,498 263 30 0.14 10.2 21,791 Sep–06 26,075 1,500 289 1.04 16.2 27,864 Dec–06 23,975 1,171 493 1.92 29.6 25,639 Mar–07 23,822 1,642 484 1.87 22.8 25,948 Jun–07 24,754 2,108 435 1.59 17.1 27,297 Sep–07 47,048 3,115 1,093 2.13 26.0 51,256 Dec–07 50,498 4,590 786 1.41 14.6 55,874 Mar–08 43,605 6,814 2,048 3.90 23.1 52,467 Jun–08 45,435 6,124 1,499 2.83 19.7 53,058 Sep–08 44,724 2,366 540 1.13 18.6 47,630 Dec–08 47,048 1,374 207 0.43 13.1 48,629 Mar–09 51,246 1,520 350 0.66 18.7 53,116 Jun–09 56,420 1,671 252 0.43 13.1 58,343 * Extreme failures are connections made 6 or more days after the CSG timeframes.

Table 9 shows that the there has been a decrease in both the number of late connections and the number of extreme failures reported in 2008–09.

The number of late connections decreased by 66.4 per cent and the number of extreme failures decreased by 75.1 per cent in the 2008–09 financial year. This represents a marked improvement in this area given that the overall number of connections undertaken by Optus only declined by 2.3 per cent.

14 | acma Figure 5 and Figure 6 illustrate the relationship between extreme failures and CSG connections on the Optus network over the last four years.

Figure 5: Optus – Own network CSG connection and extreme failure volumes, quarterly

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Extreme failures CSG connections

Figure 5 shows that Optus’ extreme failure numbers have returned to, and remained at, a substantially lower level than in 2007–08, despite the number of connections made in 2008–09 being only marginally lower than the number made in 2007–08.

acma | 15 Figure 6 displays extreme failures as a percentage of late connections and total connections on a quarterly basis; it shows that, on a percentage basis, Optus’ extreme failures for 2008–09 were at their lowest since 2005–06.

Figure 6: Optus – Own network extreme failures relative to CSG connections, quarterly

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0.50 e r r t t x x E 0.0 0.00 E

Per cent of late connections Per cent of total connections AAPT Table 10 contains the annual number of AAPT in-place and new service connections covered by the CSG and the percentage connected within CSG timeframes. More detailed AAPT tables are located in Appendix D.

Table 10: AAPT – Number of CSG connections and percentage connected on time 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 In-place connections: Connected in CSG timeframe 13,785 58,695 53,708 26,344 18,331 Total in-place connections 14,486 59,575 54,241 28,570 19,510 Percentage in CSG timeframe 95.2 98.5 99.0 92.2 94.0 New service connections: Connected in CSG timeframe 67,955 73,963 12,596 11,187 11,200 Total new service connections 69,444 75,660 13,159 12,945 12,197 Percentage in CSG timeframe 97.9 97.8 95.7 86.4 91.8 Total CSG connections 83,930 135,235 67,400 41,515 31,707 Percentage in CSG timeframe 97.4 98.1 98.4 90.4 93.1

Connection volumes There has been a marked decrease in AAPT’s connection activity since 2006–07. While the volume of connections increased by over 60 per cent in 2005–06, it has fallen significantly since then, decreasing by 50 per cent in 2006–07, 38 per cent in 2007–08 and a further 24 per cent in 2008–09.

16 | acma In 2008–09, the majority of the reduction was experienced in relation to in-place connections which decreased by 32 per cent (or 9,060), with a reduction for new service connections by 6 per cent (or 748).

Connection performance Figure 7 shows AAPT’s new service connections performance by area.

Figure 7: AAPT – Percentage of new service connections met within CSG timeframes, quarterly

) 100 % (

s e m a

r 90 f e 90 % benchmark line m i t

G 80 S

C no remote orders for

i Mar-09. One order h t i 70 for Dec 08 w hich w

t w as not met. e m

n 60 o i t c e n

n 50 o C

Urban Major rural Minor rural Remote

In 2008–09, AAPT’s performance in urban areas was variable, ranging from a low of 82 per cent in the December 2008 quarter to a high of 94 per cent in March 2009. Performance in major rural areas was above the 90 per cent benchmark for all quarters in 2008–09 with the exception of the December 2008 quarter and in minor rural areas remained above the 90 per cent benchmark in all quarters in 2008–09. AAPT only made 65 CSG service connections in remote areas, 64 of which met the CSG timeframe.

acma | 17 CSG fault repairs

Telstra Table 11 contains the annual number of Telstra repairs for reported CSG faults and the percentage of repairs provided within CSG timeframes, disaggregated into urban, rural and remote areas.

Table 11: Telstra – Number of repairs for reported CSG faults and percentage repaired on time 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Urban areas: Met within CSG timeframe 516,869 567,850 516,580 558,033 635,512 Total reported faults repaired 560,147 607,898 573,542 628,811 702,541 Percentage met 92.3 93.4 90.1 88.7 90.5 Rural areas: Met within CSG timeframe 243,093 262,948 212,294 224,139 245,606 Total reported faults repaired 263,769 284,967 235,030 251,863 270,633 Percentage met 92.2 92.3 90.3 89.0 90.8 Remote areas: Met within CSG timeframe 4,561 5,818 4,839 4,545 4,617 Total reported faults repaired 4,942 6,275 5,481 5,273 5,277 Percentage met 92.3 92.7 88.3 86.2 87.5 Total CSG Faults: CSG reported faults repaired 828,858 899,140 814,053 885,947 978,451 Total percentage met 92.2 93.0 90.1 88.8 90.5

Fault repair volumes Figure 8 shows variations in the annual volume of fault repairs over a six-year period.

Figure 8: Telstra – Annual volume of fault repairs

800,000 20,000 l

a r s u a

r 18,000

700,000 e r d a n

16,000 e

t n 600,000 o a m

b 14,000 r e r u

) : 500,000 e s e t 12,000 i m ) m n u l s u t u l i o (

400,000 10,000 o v n

s v r u

i a ( r i a e r

a 8,000 p

a 300,000 p e r e

r t l

t 6,000 l u u 200,000 a f a l f

4,000 l a a u u 100,000 n n

2,000 n n A A 0 0 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Urban Rural Rem ote Figure 8 shows that in 2008–09 the volume of repairs increased in both urban and rural areas, while remote areas remained relatively stable.

Fault repair volumes in urban and rural areas increased by 11.7 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.

18 | acma In remote areas, volumes remained stable. This follows decreases in the two preceding years.

Fault repair performance At a national level, fault repair performance in urban and rural areas was above the 90 per cent benchmark, while performance in remote areas remained below the benchmark in 2008–09. This represents an improvement over 2007–08 where all areas were below the 90 per benchmark.

Table B.7 (Appendix B) provides quarterly performance information disaggregated into urban rural and remote areas by state, providing a more detailed view of fault repair performance. Figure 9 shows quarterly national fault repair performance for urban, rural and remote areas.

Figure 9: Telstra – Quarterly fault repair performance–urban, rural and remote 100 )

% 98 (

s e 96 m a r f

e 94 m i t

G 92 S C

n 90 i h t i 90% benchmark line

w 88

d e r i 86 a p e r 84 s t l u

a 82 F

Urban Rural Rem ote Figure 9 shows that performance in urban areas has improved steadily since the June 2008 quarter and reached 92 per cent in June 2009. Fault repair performance in rural areas also improved during 2008–09 with performance at or above 90 per cent since the September 2008 quarter, after a low of 87 per cent in June 2008.

Performance in remote areas was more variable. While remaining below the 90 per cent benchmark during 2008–09, performance improved from a low of 84 per cent in June 2008 to 89 per cent in March 2009 before dropping again to 86 per cent in June 2009.

acma | 19 Late fault repairs and fault repair extreme failure Table 12 sets out Telstra’s late fault repair volumes, categorised into late repairs (completed one to five days after the CSG timeframes) with extreme failures (undertaken more than six days after the CSG timeframes) shown shaded.

Table 12: Telstra – Number of late CSG fault repairs, quarterly Number of CSG faults Percentag Percentag 6 or more e of total e of late Within 1–5 days days faults faults CSG after CSG after CSG classed as classed as Total timeframe timefram timefram extreme extreme CSG s es es failures* failures* faults Sep–04 168,923 13,486 1,092 0.6 7.5 183,501 Dec–04 197,400 21,669 1,455 0.7 6.3 220,524 Mar–05 195,946 21,425 1,411 0.6 6.2 218,782 Jun–05 177,041 15,528 1,184 0.6 7.1 193,753 Sep–05 176,680 13,122 970 0.5 6.9 190,772 Dec–05 208,453 17,634 1,122 0.5 6.0 227,209 Mar–06 199,088 16,855 1,279 0.6 7.1 217,222 Jun–06 178,712 12,260 1,116 0.6 8.3 192,088 Sep–06 168,468 14,574 989 0.5 6.4 184,031 Dec–06 168,044 14,638 1,264 0.7 7.9 183,946 Mar–07 200,821 28,221 1,844 0.8 6.1 230,886 Jun–07 196,380 17,454 1,356 0.6 7.2 215,190 Sep–07 174,649 18,809 1,547 0.8 7.6 195,005 Dec–07 180,169 22,603 1,344 0.7 5.6 204,116 Mar–08 223,057 22,253 1,333 0.5 5.7 246,643 Jun–08 208,842 29,114 2,227 0.9 7.1 240,183 Sep–08 196,910 23,750 2,025 0.9 7.9 222,685 Dec–08 213,523 20,090 1,591 0.7 7.3 235,204 Mar–09 239,286 22,975 2,312 0.9 9.1 264,573 Jun–09 236,016 18,490 1,483 0.6 7.4 255,989 * Extreme failures are fault repairs made six or more days after the CSG timeframes.

The number of extreme failures increased from 6,451 in 2007–08 to 7,411 in 2008–09, representing a 14.9 per cent increase. However, extreme failures as a percentage of the total number of repairs remained constant at 0.8 per cent of all fault repairs. Extreme failures as a percentage of late repairs increased to 8.0 per cent from 6.5 per cent in 2007–08.

20 | acma Figure 10: Telstra – CSG fault repair extreme failure as a percentage of all late repairs, quarterly

10.0

9.0

8.0

t n e

c ) 7.0

r % e (

p s

r 6.0 s i a a

p s e e 5.0 r r

u e l t i a a

l 4.0 f

l l e a

m f 3.0 e o r t x

E 2.0

1.0

0.0

Extrem e failures as % of all late repairs Linear trendline (Extreme failures as % of all late repairs)

Figure 10 shows that the quarterly percentage of late repairs that fall into the extreme failure category is variable, and does not show any clear seasonality. While the overall occurrence of extreme failures has been low, there has been a slight upwards trend in the proportion of CSG late fault repairs falling into the extreme failure category.

In 2008–09, the percentage of late repairs classified as extreme failures peaked in March 2009 at 9.1 per cent, before dropping to 7.4 per cent in June 2009.

acma | 21 Optus Table 13 sets out Optus’ annual repair volumes and performance levels for reported CSG faults, which includes Optus own network and its reseller activity from other networks.

Table 13: Optus – Number of repairs for reported CSG faults and percentage repaired on time 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Urban areas: Repaired in CSG timeframe 147,760 136,459 129,290 158,631 157,005 Total CSG faults repaired 151,029 143,368 138,555 183,437 173,308 Percentage in CSG timeframe 97.8 95.2 93.3 86.5 90.6 Rural areas: Repaired in CSG timeframe 3,084 2,697 1,853 1,342 724 Total CSG faults repaired 3,245 3,020 2,038 1,559 784 Percentage in CSG timeframe 95.0 89.3 90.9 86.1 92.3 Remote areas: Repaired in CSG timeframe 125 100 88 45 23 Total CSG faults repaired 141 114 95 53 24 Percentage in CSG timeframe 88.7 87.7 92.6 84.9 95.8 All Areas: Total CSG faults repaired 154,415 146,502 140,688 185,049 174,116 Percentage in CSG timeframe 97.8 95.1 93.3 86.5 90.6

Fault repair volumes For 2008–09, at the national level, Optus’ overall number of fault repairs decreased by 5.9 per cent. At a disaggregated level, the number of faults repaired decreased by 5.5 per cent in urban areas, 49.7 per cent in rural areas and by 54.7 per cent in remote areas (it should be noted that, in 2008–09 Optus’ number of CSG eligible services in rural and remote areas deceased by 34.7 and 43.3 per cent respectively).

Fault repair performance Optus’ quarterly fault repair performance data is set out in Table C.7 (Appendix C). In 2008–09, there was an overall improvement in fault repair performance to 90.6 per cent from 86.5 per cent in 2007–08.

Fault repair performance improved in all areas, with urban areas increasing to 90.6 per cent from 86.5 per cent, rural areas increasing to 92.3 per cent from 86.1 per cent and remote areas improved to 95.8 per cent from 84.9 per cent.

Figure 11 charts quarterly percentage data for urban and rural areas. Data for remote areas displays wide fluctuations, largely as the result of low volumes. Accordingly, they have not been included in Figure 11.

22 | acma Figure 11: Optus – Percentage of reported faults repaired within CSG timeframes, quarterly

100.0 ) %

( 95.0

s e

m 90% benchm ark line a r f

e 90.0 m i t

G S C 85.0 n i h t i w

e 80.0 r i a p e r

s t l 75.0 u a F

70.0

Urban Rural

Performance in 2008–09 was above the 90 per cent benchmark in rural areas for all four quarters, while performance in urban areas rose from 86.4 per cent in the September 2008 quarter to 92.1 per cent in the December 2008 quarter and remained above the 90 per cent benchmark with performance at 91.5 per cent in both the March 2009 and June 2009 quarters.

Late fault repairs and fault repair extreme failures Table 14 sets out Optus’ fault repair volumes and those repaired late.

Table 14: Optus – Number of late CSG fault repairs, quarterly Number of CSG faults Percenta Percentage ge of late of total faults Within 1–5 days 6 or more faults classed CSG after CSG days after classed as as Total timeframe timeframe CSG extreme extreme CSG s s timeframes failures* failures* faults Sep–04 37,599 597 31 0.1 4.9 38,227 Dec–04 38,033 635 24 0.1 3.6 38,692 Mar–05 41,143 858 39 0.1 4.3 42,040 Jun–05 34,194 1,203 59 0.2 4.7 35,456 Sep–05 33,757 1,206 59 0.2 4.7 35,022 Dec–05 37,761 1,808 95 0.2 5.0 39,664 Mar–06 34,536 2,264 98 0.3 4.1 36,898 Jun–06 33,202 1,573 143 0.4 8.3 34,918 Sep–06 36,350 1,595 103 0.3 6.1 38,048 Dec–06 32,302 2,032 151 0.4 6.9 34,485 Mar–07 28,807 2,341 206 0.7 8.1 31,354 Jun–07 33,772 2,834 195 0.5 6.4 36,801 Sep–07 49,706 5,024 689 1.2 12.1 55,419

acma | 23 Table 14: Optus – Number of late CSG fault repairs, quarterly (continued) Number of CSG faults Percenta Percentage ge of late of total faults Within 1–5 days 6 or more faults classed CSG after CSG days after classed as as Total timeframe timeframe CSG extreme extreme CSG s s timeframes failures* failures* faults Dec–07 34,191 3,930 461 1.2 10.5 38,582 Mar–08 45,867 7,849 1,444 2.6 15.5 55,160 Jun–08 30,234 5,039 615 1.7 10.9 35,888 Sep–08 38,344 5,516 490 1.1 8.2 44,350 Dec–08 43,102 3,483 225 0.5 6.1 46,810 Mar–09 39,717 3,413 290 0.7 7.8 43,420 Jun–09 36,590 2,811 135 0.3 4.6 39,536

Figure 12 (below) shows variability in the quarterly volume of fault repairs. From September 2005 to June 2007, variations were minor and there was an overall downward trend in the total volume of fault repairs. The quarterly data for the 2007–08 financial year shows much greater variability between quarters.

In 2008–09, there was an overall downward trend in both the total number of repairs and the number of extreme failures. Performance improved in 2008–09 with a decrease of 65 per cent in the number of extreme failures, which is a significant improvement given that extreme failures increased by 390 per cent in 2007–08.

Figure 12: Optus – Total volume of fault repairs per quarter from September 2005 to June 2009

1,500 60,000 s r s i e a r p u l e i

1,000 50,000 r

a t f l

u e a f m

e r t G x S e

C f

f o

o r

r e

500 40,000 e b b m m u u N N

0 30,000

Extreme failures Total number CSG fault repairs

24 | acma Figure 13 shows extreme failure fault repair performance as a percentage of all late repairs. The rise in the proportion of late fault repairs extending into the extreme failure category seen in 2007–08 reversed in 2008–09 where there was an overall decrease in both the number of extreme failures and the proportion of extreme failures as a percentage of late repairs.

Figure 13: Optus – CSG fault repair extreme failure as a percentage of all late repairs

18 s r i a

p 16 e r

e t

a 14 l

l l a

f 12 o

t n

e 10 c

r e

p 8

s a

e 6 r u l i a

f 4

e m

e 2 r t x

E 0

Figure 13 shows that in 2008–09 the percentage of all late repairs that were extreme failures returned to pre-September 2007 levels after peaking in March 2008. Figure 13 also suggests a level of seasonality in extreme failures for fault repairs as, with the exception of 2005–06, in each year the percentage of extreme failures has been highest for the March quarter.

acma | 25 AAPT Table 15 sets out AAPT’s annual repair volumes and performance levels for CSG fault repairs.

Table 15: AAPT – Number of repairs for reported CSG faults and percentage repaired on time 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Urban areas: Repaired in CSG timeframe not provided 55,653 57,490 56,843 47,835 Total CSG faults repaired 57,653 57,314 59,231 58,821 51,058 Percentage in CSG timeframe not provided 97.1 97.1 96.6 93.7 Rural areas: Repaired in CSG timeframe not provided 16,843 19,940 16,279 11,406 Total CSG faults repaired 28,239 17,721 20,727 16,886 12,013 Percentage in CSG timeframe not provided 95 96.2 96.4 94.9 Remote areas: Repaired in CSG timeframe not provided 156 171 132 95 Total CSG faults repaired 183 164 181 143 103 Percentage in CSG timeframe not provided 95.1 94.5 92.3 92.2 All Areas CSG faults repaired 86,075 75,199 80,139 75,850 63,174 Percentage in CSG timeframe 98.4 96.6 96.8 96.6 93.9

AAPT’s annual national fault repair performance remained above the 90 per cent benchmark, performance in 2008–09. Annual performance disaggregated by area (urban, rural and remote) decreased when compared with 2007–08.

However, Figure 14 shows that while September 2008 results were below 90 per cent benchmark for all areas, this was atypical and performance rebounded sharply to meet or exceed the benchmark in the subsequent three quarters.

Figure 14: AAPT – Percentage of reported faults repaired within CSG timeframes, quarterly

100

) 95 % (

e 90 m

a 90% benchm ark r f

e 85 m i t

G 80 S C

n i h

t 75 i w

e 70 M

Urban Rural Rem ote

26 | acma CSG compensation In October 2006, the CSG Standard was amended to increase the daily rate of compensation for not meeting CSG Standard timeframes. A corresponding increase in the average amount per payment can therefore be expected when compared to data prior to October 2006.

Telstra Figure 15 charts the number of compensation payments made by Telstra and the average amount of these payments.

Figure 15: Telstra – CSG compensation payment volumes and average amount paid for not meeting CSG performance standards

250,000 70 ) $ (

60 t n

) 200,000 e s t m i y n 50 a u ( p

r s t e

n 150,000 p

e 40 d i m y a a p

t p

f 30 n

o 100,000 u

r o e m b a

20 m e u g N 50,000 a r

10 e v A

0 0 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09

Num ber of payments Average $ per paym ent Telstra’s average compensation paid for not meeting CSG timeframes has been increasing steadily since 2005–06.

In 2008–09, there was an increase of 13.8 per cent in the average amount per payment to $46. At the same time there was a decrease of 7.3 per cent in the number of compensation payments. From this it can be inferred that while there are fewer instances where compensation is paid, the delays were longer. This inference is supported by the rise in extreme failures for both connections and fault repairs.

acma | 27 Optus Figure 16 charts the number of compensation payments made by Optus and the average amount of these payments.

Figure 16: Optus – CSG compensation payment volumes and average amount paid

50,000 90

80 ) $ (

40,000 n ) 70 e s t m i y n a u 60 ( p

r s t 30,000 e n p

e 50 d i m a y p a

t p 40

n f u

o 20,000

o r e 30 m b a

m e u g N 20 a

10,000 r e v

10 A

0 0 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09

Number of payments Average $ per payment

Figure 16 shows that in 2008–09 there was a substantial decrease both in the number and average value of CSG compensation payments made by Optus. The number of payments made fell by 53.6 per cent to 22,000 payments and the average value of payments fell by 26.1 per cent to $61.

The decrease in the number and level of payments is consistent with the trends shown in connection and repair performance.

28 | acma AAPT Figure 17 charts the number of compensation payments made by AAPT and the average amount of these payments over a five-year period.

Figure 17: AAPT – CSG compensation payment volumes and average amount paid

9,000 140 )

8,000 $ (

120 t n ) e

s 7,000 t m i y n 100 a u ( p

6,000 r s t e n p

e 5,000 80 d i m a y p a

t p 4,000 60 n f u o

o r

e 3,000 m b a

40 m e u

2,000 g N a r

20 e 1,000 v A 0 0 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Num ber of paym ents Average $ per paym ent Figure 17 shows a clear upward trend in the number of CSG compensation payments made and the average value of compensation payments.

The total number of compensation payments increased by 15.5 per cent in 2008–09 to 7,951 payments, compared with 6,886 payments in 2007–08. The average amount paid per compensation payment increased by 66.8 per cent in 2008–09 compared to the 2007–08 average payment (from $71 to $118).

acma | 29 Exemptions from the CSG Standard The CSG Standard allows a service provider to declare an exemption from CSG Standard connections, fault repair and appointment keeping timeframes in specified circumstances. Where a number of services will be impacted, the service provider is required to notify the customers affected by the declared exemption either directly in writing, or publicly, by publishing a notice in a daily newspaper in the affected area. The notification must include details of the cause of the exemption, an estimate of the duration of the exemption, the entitlement of the customer to dispute the exemption and how a customer may contact the service provider in relation to the exemption. Providers are required to give the ACMA a copy of any notice where the provider decides to publicly notify customers of a declared exemption.

Exemptions can be declared for circumstances that are beyond the service provider’s control, such as damage to networks caused by a third party, natural disasters or severe weather storms; the need to comply with a Commonwealth, state or territory law; or where there is a need to move staff or equipment to an area affected by circumstances beyond the provider’s control. The most common reasons used by service providers to declare an exemption are extreme weather conditions or natural disasters.

Table 16 contains exemption statistics declared by Optus and Telstra over the past six years.

Table 16: Exemption statistics Optus Telstra Number of Average Average Number of Average Average exemptions duration number of exemptions duration number of (days) services (days) services affected affected 2003–04 7 13 6,557 124 8 566 2004–05 11 8 2,750 106 6 649 2005–06 22 8 1,179 51 7 1,140 2006–07 15 11 15,257 13 10 2,302 2007–08 59 23 6,704 69 22 6,140 2008–09 35 14 2,176 56 13 4,778

Telstra and Optus regularly declare exemptions from the CSG Standard. Telstra, as the USO provider, is required to service all locations. As Optus is not required to service all areas, some exemptions may not be relevant to both Optus and Telstra. AAPT does not publicly declare exemptions from the CSG Standard timeframes.

In 2008–09, Telstra declared 56 exemptions, 53 of which were due to local extreme weather conditions and natural disasters. This was a 19 per cent reduction on the number claimed for 2007–08. Telstra declared two exemptions due to damage caused to facilities by parties not associated with Telstra and one due to the need to relocate resources to an area affected by extreme weather. The number of services affected by exemptions ranged from 249 to 35,491 with the average number of services affected being 4,789. The number of days claimed per exemption ranged from two to 52 days with the average duration being 13 days.

Optus declared 35 exemptions during 2008–09. This was a 41 per cent reduction on the number claimed in 2007–08. Thirty-three of the exemptions claimed were due to local extreme weather conditions and natural disasters, one was due to the need to relocate resources to an area affected by extreme weather conditions and one for other reasons outside Optus’ control. The number of services affected by exemptions

30 | acma ranged from 125 to 10,000 with the average number of services affected being 2,176. The number of days claimed per exemption ranged from two to 39 days with the average duration being 14 days.

Figure 18 and 19 graphs show the total number of exemptions declared by Optus and Telstra for the past six years.

Figure 18: Number of exemptions declared by Telstra 2003–04 to 2008–09

140 d e

r 120 a l c e

d 100

s n o i

t 80 p m

e 60 x e

f o

r 40 e b m

u 20 N 0 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Tels tra

Figure 19: Number of exemptions declared by Optus 2003–04 to 2008–09

60 d e r a l c

e 50 d

s n o

i 40 t p m e

x 30 e

f o

e 20 b m u

N 10

0 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Optus Figures 18 and 19 show that the total number of declared exemptions decreased in 2008–09 compared to 2007–08, but remained higher than the number declared in 2006–07. The number of exemptions is largely dependent on the prevalence of extreme weather events experienced by parts of Australia.

In 2008–09, the distribution of exemptions for both Optus and Telstra was relatively even throughout the year, with roughly a quarter of exemptions declared for both carriers occurring in the summer months. This is in contrast to 2007–08, where significant weather events caused an increase in the number of exemptions over the summer months.

acma | 31 Table 17 details the number of exemptions declared by Optus and Telstra for each quarter in 2008–09 and shows that, with the exception of the September quarter, the number of exemptions per quarter was comparable.

Table 17: Number of exemptions declared by carrier for 2008–09 by quarter Optus Telstra Sep–08 2 6 Dec–08 9 19 March–09 10 14 June–09 14 17

32 | acma Priority assistance

Background Priority assistance provides enhanced telephone connections and fault repair service to persons with a diagnosed, life-threatening medical condition who are at risk of suffering a rapid, life-threatening deterioration in their condition and access to a telephone would assist to remedy the life threatening situation. Priority assistance is only available to a home phone (fixed line) service at a customer’s primary place of residence.

Telstra offers priority assistance under a carrier licence condition. Telstra is required to connect phones and repair faults for priority customers within 24 hours in urban and regional areas and 48 hours in remote areas or such longer period where requested by the customer. Where a priority assistance customer experiences two or more faults within a three month period, Telstra must undertake further testing of the service to identify the underlying cause of the fault and, where necessary, return the service to a high level of reliability as soon as possible.

Non-Telstra service providers can offer priority assistance under the Communications Alliance Ltd (formerly ACIF) Industry Code (ACIF C609:2007 Priority Assistance for life-threatening medical conditions), which provides a framework for offering priority assistance on a voluntary basis while ensuring adequate consumer protection. All service providers are obliged to abide by the code to the extent that, when they do not offer a priority assistance service, they must advise their customers of this fact. Where carriers do voluntarily offer priority assistance, the conditions are largely the same as those required of Telstra. Currently, AAPT and Primus voluntarily offer a priority assistance service under the Priority Assistance Code.

For monitoring purposes, Telstra is required under its licence condition to provide the ACMA with quarterly reports on its priority assistance performance. AAPT and Primus both voluntarily provide data on a quarterly basis, but provide less detail than Telstra. Due to the data limitations and the relatively low volumes involved, performance analysis has not been undertaken for AAPT and Primus. Priority assistance data tables are in Appendix E.

Priority assistance – Number of Telstra customers Table 18 shows the total number of Telstra’s priority assistance customers, including the total number of validated priority assistance customers for the past six years. A validated customer is a customer who has sent Telstra the appropriate application form (including medical certification or statutory declaration) and has been approved by Telstra. Telstra attempts to connect or repair the service of a customer who has yet to be validated (a provisional or ‘tagged’ status) in the same timeframes as a validated priority assistance customer.

Once validated, a Telstra priority assistance customer has a service reliability test performed on the service. At 30 June 2009, Telstra had 195,173 priority assistance customers, of which 121,747 were validated. This is a 19.5 per cent increase in the number of tagged customers and a 4.3 per cent increase in the number of validated customers from the previous year. Since 2003–04, the total number of Telstra priority assistance customers has increased by over 80,000. Table 19 shows the percentage of validated priority assistance customer increased from 57.2 per cent (107,995) in 2006–07 to 71.5 per cent (116,753) in 2007–08 before decreasing to 62.4 per cent (121,747) in 2008–09.

acma | 33 Table 18: Telstra – Number of priority assistance customers as of 30 June 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Total priority assistance customers 106,124 148,602 169,877 188,802 163,292 195,173 Validated priority assistance customers 55,545 68,226 96,320 107,995 116,753 121,747 Per cent validated 52.3 45.9 56.7 57.2 71.5 62.4

Priority assistance – Telstra connection performance Volumes Table 19 sets out Telstra’s connection volumes for the period September 2005–June 2009. In 2008–09, connection volumes peaked in urban and rural in the September 2008 quarter and were lowest in the March 2009 quarter, while connection volumes in remote areas peaked in the June 2009 quarter and were lowest in the December 2008 quarter.

Table 19: Telstra – Priority assistance connection volumes Urban Rural Remote Sep–05 12,767 4,431 149 Dec–05 14,635 5,290 144 Mar–06 15,007 5,456 159 Jun–06 14,811 5,214 147 Sep–06 14,617 5,087 161 Dec–06 13,905 5,036 181 Mar–07 13,521 4,911 143 Jun–07 13,639 4,967 156 Sep–07 13,729 5,143 150 Dec–07 13,318 5,193 129 Mar–08 13,393 5,140 133 Jun–08 12,880 5,027 125 Sep–08 10,025 3,851 113 Dec–08 9,542 3,505 84 Mar–09 8,881 3,212 99 Jun–09 9,144 3,395 120

34 | acma Figure 20 shows Telstra’s priority assistance connection performance trends.

Figure 20: Telstra – Percentage of priority assistance connections made within timeframes, quarterly

100 ) % (

s e m a

r 95 f e m i t

n i 90% benchmark line h t i w 90 d e d i v o r p

n 85 o i t c e n n o C 80

Urban Rural Remote Linear trendline (Urban) Linear trendline (Rural) Linear trendline (Remote)

In 2008–09, Telstra’s performance in urban and rural areas improved steadily from the December 2008 quarter, but remained below the ACMA’s 90 per cent benchmark until the June 2009 quarter when it rose to 91.7 and 91.4 per cent respectively. Performance in remote areas was more variable. However, it is noted that low volume orders may have impacted performance in this area. In addition while performance remained below the 90 per cent benchmark for all quarters in 2008–09, it improved from the previous year. Telstra has provided the ACMA with an explanation of its decreased performance and has indicated that it has implemented measures aimed at addressing the issues.

acma | 35 Priority assistance – Telstra fault repair performance Volumes Table 20 sets out Telstra’s fault repair volumes for the period September 2005–June 2009. In 2008–09, repair volumes were lower in the September 2008 quarter in all areas. Repair volumes peaked in the March 2009 quarter for rural and remote areas and June 2009 in urban areas.

Table 20: Telstra – Priority assistance fault repair volumes Urban Rural Remote Sep–05 24,004 10,643 209 Dec–05 26,682 13,549 258 Mar–06 27,732 13,137 285 Jun–06 23,015 10,004 224 Sep–06 21,996 9,177 157 Dec–06 15,132 7,591 151 Mar–07 16,996 8,949 215 Jun–07 17,112 7,809 161 Sep–07 15,711 7,084 148 Dec–07 18,345 9,386 213 Mar–08 24,933 10,894 249 Jun–08 22,413 9,208 174 Sep–08 18,032 7,618 111 Dec–08 19,490 8,533 143 Mar–09 21,280 9,849 189 Jun–09 21,631 9,110 172

Figure 21 charts annual priority assistance fault repair volumes. Remote area volumes have been graphed on a separate axis scale to provide better legibility. Fault repair volumes in all areas peaked in 2005–06 before decreasing significantly in 2006–07 (29.6 per cent), then rising again in 2007–08 (12.6 per cent).

In 2008–09, fault repairs volumes remained relatively consistent in urban and rural areas with a decrease of 1.2 per cent (969) in urban areas and a decrease of 4.0 per cent (1,462) in rural areas. While the decrease in remote areas appears more pronounced at 21.6 per cent, this could be attributed to lower volumes (784 in 2007– 08 compared with 615 in 2008–09).

36 | acma Figure 21: Telstra – Priority assistance fault repair volumes, annual

125,000 1,250 ) e

m 100,000 1,000 ) u l e o m v ( u

l s o r i 75,000 750 v ( a

p s r e i r

a l p a r e r u

r 50,000 500

e t d o n m a

e n R a

b 25,000 250 r U

0 0 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Urban Rural Remote

Performance Figure 22 charts the percentage of priority assistance faults repaired within required timeframes.

Figure 22: Telstra – Percentage of priority assistance faults repaired within timeframes, quarterly

100 ) % (

s 95 e m a r f

e 90 m i

t 90% benchm ark

n i

h 85 t i w

d e

r 80 i a p e r

s 75 t l u a F 70

Urban Rural Rem ote

Overall, priority assistance fault repair performance improved in 2008–09. In urban areas, performance was consistently above the ACMA’s 90 per cent benchmark. Performance in rural areas rose to 91.1 per cent in the September 2008 quarter and remained at or above the 90 per cent benchmark in the December 2008 and March 2008 quarters before falling marginally below the benchmark to 89.1 per cent in June 2009.

acma | 37 Performance in remote areas rose to 87.5 per cent in September 2008, its highest level since September 2007, before falling to 82 per cent in December 2008 and then improving slightly over the next two quarters to 83 per cent (Figure 22).

Although performance in remote areas remained below the 90 per cent benchmark for the 2008–09 period, it should be noted that the number of fault repairs undertaken in remote areas was very small (615).

In addition to meeting the required connection and repair timeframes, Telstra is also expected to provide priority assistance customers with a higher standard of service reliability. This may be assessed by measuring repeat faults, where a validated service experiences two or more reported faults in a three month period. Figure 23 charts the number of validated priority assistance customers annually, and the number of those customers who experienced repeat faults.

Figure 23: Telstra – Validated priority assistance customers and number with repeat faults,

h t

130,000 1,200 i w

s r

120,000 1,100 e e m c o n t a s t 110,000 1,000 u s i c

s e s c ) a l

100,000 900 n a y a t s t i t u l r s n i u o i n s a r f

90,000 800 s a

p ( t a

n s d y r t e e i r t e r 80,000 700 r a o u m i d r c i o l t p e

a s r d v u

70,000 600 f e c t o

a r d i e l

b 60,000 500 a v m

f u o

50,000 400 r e b m

40,000 300 u N 9 6 7 8 6 8 9 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - – – – – – r – – – – – – – – – r r r n c c c c a p n p n p n p a a a u e e e e e u e u e u e M J M J M J M J S D S D S D S D Num ber of validated priority ass is tance cus tom ers (as at 30 June) Num ber of validated priority ass is tance cus tom ers with recurrent faults

Figure 23 shows that both the number of validated priority assistance customers and the number of those customers with recurrent faults have steadily increased. While the increase in the volume of repeat faults might be directly impacted by the increase in the number of validated customers, the percentage of validated priority assistance customers experiencing a repeat fault has increased from 2.1 per cent in 2005–06 to 3.5 per cent in 2008–09.

38 | acma Public payphones

Background The payphone market in Australia is open to competition. However, to ensure all people in Australia have reasonable access to payphones on an equitable basis, payphone provision is part of the universal service obligation (USO). Telstra as the universal service provider provides the ACMA with data relating to its performance in meeting this obligation on a quarterly basis. Other payphone operators provide the ACMA with information about the numbers of payphones on an annual basis. Detailed payphone tables can be found in Appendix F.

Number of payphones and sites The total number of payphones (both Telstra operated and privately operated) in Australia fell by 12.8 per cent (or 5,786 payphones) to 39,328 during 2008–09. This included a decrease of 6.7 per cent (or 1,494 payphones) to 20,683 in the number of Telstra operated payphones, and a decrease of six per cent to 16,838 in the number of Telstra operated payphone sites (some sites have more than one payphone). In 2008– 09, there were 18,645 payphones operated by other providers, which is a decrease of 18.7 per cent on 2007–08.

At 30 June 2009, 52.6 per cent of payphones were operated by Telstra. The remaining 47.4 per cent were privately operated payphones provided by companies such as TriTel Australia Pty Ltd (the second largest provider of payphones), or other businesses, such as hotels, clubs and convenience stores. TriTel Australia owned and operated 908 payphones in 2008–09, of which 93.9 per cent (853) were located in urban areas.

Figure 24 shows the trend in payphone numbers over the past five years to June 2009.

Figure 24: Number of payphones and payphone sites

70,000 s e t i

s 60,000

e n o

h 50,000 p y a p / 40,000 s e n o

h 30,000 p y a p

f 20,000 o

r e b

m 10,000 u N 0 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Tels tra operated Non-Tels tra operated Num ber of payphone sites Total num ber of payphones

acma | 39 The downwards trend in payphones for Telstra and other operators indicates that the commercial viability of payphones might be declining. This is supported in part by the decline in the number of calls made from payphones as discussed below.

Telephone typewriter (TTY) payphones have decreased from 201 in 2007–08 to 176 in 2008–09 which represents a 12.4 per cent decrease. The Communications Alliance and the Australian Human Rights Commission have a guideline on payphone accessibility for people with disabilities. The guideline states that in the selection of sites for TTY payphones, payphone providers should work with organisations representing deaf, hearing and speech impaired people, to identify appropriate locations for TTY payphones in metropolitan or regional areas. Priority is to be given to provision of TTY payphones at locations such as medical, judicial and educational institutions, shopping centres and transport terminals.

Telstra's payphone rationalisation program Since June 2006, the ACMA has had a role of ‘office of last resort’ in payphone removal complaints involving Telstra. The ACMA becomes involved where complaints have been through the Telstra complaints process, remain unresolved and the payphone in question is the last one at the site. In 2008–09, the ACMA reviewed 21 payphone removal proposals (covering 83 payphones) as a result of complaints from the public, in comparison to 15 complaints (covering 23 payphones) in 2007–08. The ACMA found that Telstra had met the requirements for payphone removal, as outlined in Telstra’s Standard Marketing Plan (SMP), and the consultation processes agreed in June 2006 in all cases in both 2007–08 and 2008–09.

The ACMA may also consider complaints on payphone relocation proposals, where members of the public request a Telstra payphone to be relocated away from their property or business. There were no payphone relocation complaints in 2008–09.

During 2008–09, Telstra removed 1,573 payphones from service after public consultation, consisting of 1,245 in urban areas, 276 in rural areas and 52 in remote areas. Telstra also cancelled the proposed removal of 202 payphones after consultation, consisting of 50 in urban areas, 130 in rural areas and 22 in a remote area.

Payphone usage Telstra operated payphones saw a 14.4 per cent decrease in the number of calls between 2007–08 and 2008–09 (133,072,239 to 113,947,041 calls, respectively). Privately operated payphones saw a 19.3 per cent reduction in the number of calls made between 2007–08 and 2008–09 (19,963,924 to 16,108,417 calls, respectively). Figure 25 shows there has been a steady decrease in the number of calls made from payphones since 2004–05.

40 | acma Figure 25: Number of calls made from payphones, 2004–05 to 2008–09

300,000,000

250,000,000

200,000,000 s l l a c

f o

r 150,000,000 e b m u

N 100,000,000

50,000,000

0 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09

Telstra operated Non-Telstra operated All payphones

The use of payphones to make emergency calls has also reduced over time. There has been a downwards trend in the number of emergency calls made from payphones since 2005–06. This was more pronounced in 2008–09, with the number of emergency calls from payphones falling by 25.5 per cent from 484,266 in 2007–08 to 360,572 in 2008–09. For all years in the period from 2004–05 to 2007–08 there was an increase in the number of emergency calls made from mobile phones. However, in 2008–09 the number of emergency calls from mobile phones fell by 13.9 per cent from approximately 7.5 million calls in 2007–08 to approximately 6.5 million calls in 2008– 09. This reduction and the greater reduction in the number of calls from payphones may have been influenced by the introduction of the recorded voice announcement for the Triple Zero service in December 2008.

Payphone fault repairs – Telstra Payphone fault repair is an important component of the USO provision of payphone services. Under its SMP, Telstra is required to repair unworkable Telstra payphones within specified timeframes according to the service location. The timeframes to repair are: 26.within one working day in urban areas 27.within two working days in rural areas and 28.within three working days in remote areas.

Telstra provides the ACMA with quarterly reporting on the percentage of fault repairs that have met the SMP timeframes. The ACMA monitors this performance against a benchmark of 80 per cent.5 Not all faults render a payphone unworkable or unserviceable; the fault data includes so-called ‘non-critical’ faults, such as a flickering light inside a payphone booth.

Figure 26 shows Telstra’s quarterly percentage payphone fault repair performance over four years.

5 The 80 per cent benchmark was established for payphone fault repair performance in line with recommendation 32 of ACMA’s Payphone Policy Review in 2004.

acma | 41 Figure 26: Telstra – Percentage of payphone faults repaired within timeframes, quarterly

100

80 t

n 80% benchmark line e

c 75

r e

P 70

Urban Rural Remote Linear trendline (Urban) Linear trendline (Rural) Linear trendline (Remote)

Payphone fault repair performance in urban and rural areas remained above the 80 per cent benchmark throughout 2008–09. Figure 26 shows a continuation of the steady and consistent linear trend for both urban and rural areas, despite quarterly fluctuations in performance.

Remote payphone fault repair performance was consistently below the 80 per cent benchmark in 2008–09, improving slightly to 65.9 per cent from 64.5 per cent in 2007- 08. In 2008-09, only the March 2009 quarter was below 60 per cent (in 2007–08 performance in both March and June 2008 were below 60 per cent) and performance in the June 2009 quarter was at 71 per cent, exceeding a performance level of 70 per cent for the first time since September 2007. A seasonal performance pattern is also suggested in remote areas, with the lowest quarterly performance in most years being recorded in the March quarter.

Telstra has cited a number of explanations for its remote area performance including the distance of remote payphones from Telstra’s field service centres. In addition, low volumes involved are also likely to impact on performance in this area.

42 | acma Figure 27: Telstra – National average business hours to clear payphone faults, quarterly

25 ) s r u o h (

s 20 t l u a f

e n

o 15 h p y a p

r 10 a e l c

o t

e 5 k a t

e l i T 0

National average Linear trendline (Hours to clear a fault)

Figure 27 outlines the hours taken to clear a fault for a Telstra payphone. The number of hours for repairs are not provided in the disaggregated classifications of urban, rural and remote, but are provided on a national and state and territory basis.

In 2008–09, the average time taken to clear a fault was in the range of 9–11 hours and is the best performance reported in the last four years. This represents a substantial improvement upon 2007–08 where the range was 17–22 hours.

Figure 27 shows a downward linear trend line in the number of hours taken to clear payphone faults, despite the upwards trend shown in 2007–08.

acma | 43 Figure 28: Telstra – Regional average business hours to clear payphone faults, quarterly

25 ) s r u

o 20 h (

s t l u a f

r i

a 15 p e r

o t

n e k a t

10 e m i T

0 Sep–07 Dec–07 Mar–08 Jun-08 Sep-08 Dec-08 Mar-09 Jun-09

NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA/NT WA TAS National Figure 28 displays the average business hours taken to clear a fault for a Telstra payphone disaggregated into state and territory for the financial years 2007–08 to 2008–09 (national data is included for reference purposes). Figure 28 demonstrates that, in general, where a state consists of a relatively high proportion of urban areas (such as NSW/ACT and VIC) the average business hours taken to clear a fault for a Telstra payphone is relatively low.

44 | acma Figure 29: Telstra – National percentage of downtime for payphones, quarterly 10

) 8 t n e c

7 r e p (

6 e m i t 5 n w o

d 4

l a

n 3 o i t a

N 2

Percentage downtime Linear trendline (Percentage downtime)

Figure 29 shows the national percentage of Telstra payphone downtime. Downtime refers to the percentage of time during the quarter that each Telstra payphone is unserviceable. Telstra determines a payphone is unserviceable if a fault does not allow all call types to be made using all payphone mechanisms offered at that payphone. Downtime is measured against elapsed hours (24 hours a day, seven days a week) and also includes the time taken to repair faults. Telstra detects faults with its payphones through automatic fault-detection equipment or a customer fault report. Since September 2005, payphone downtime has generally ranged between five– seven per cent. Although downtime peaked at nine per cent in the March 2008 quarter, it has dropped steadily since then to a low of five per cent in June 2009.

acma | 45 Network Reliability Framework

Background The Network Reliability Framework (NRF) is a three-tiered regulatory arrangement under which the ACMA monitors the reliability of Telstra’s fixed telephone network. Enacted through Telstra’s Carrier Licence Conditions, the NRF monitors and reports at three levels: 29.Level 1: nationally and Telstra’s 44 field service areas (FSAs). 30.Level 2: reporting and remediation of poorly-performing cable runs. 31.Level 3: individual services that contravene certain fault thresholds.

For Level 1, Telstra is required to report monthly on performance at national level and for each FSA in Australia. In doing this, Telstra provides data for: 32.the percentage of services without a fault (Level 1a) and 33.the percentage of time that services are available (Level 1b). The ACMA then uses the data supplied by Telstra to calculate the average downtime of fault-affected services in a month (Level 1c).

Level 2 requires Telstra to report and remediate cable runs based on categories of Exchange Service Areas (ESAs). An ESA is an area served by a single telephone exchange. There are approximately 5,060 ESAs in Australia. Each month, Telstra must identify and report to the ACMA the 40 worst performing cable runs across different sized ESAs. These include: 34.Five cable runs with 1–100 CSG services 35.15 cable runs with 101–1000 CSG services 36.10 cable runs with 1001–10,000 CSG services and 37.10 further lowest cable runs across all ESA categories.

Upon approval of the report by the ACMA, Telstra must complete remediation of these cable runs within six months.

For Level 3, Telstra is required to take reasonable action as is necessary to prevent an individual service from experiencing: 38.four or more faults in a rolling 60-day period (Level 3a) or 39.five or more faults in a rolling 365-day period (Level 3b).

Further, Telstra is required to report to the ACMA any services that contravene these thresholds and provide a remediation plan. Following remediation, each service enters an eight month monitoring period. Telstra reports to the ACMA each month on any service experiencing a fault during its eight-month monitoring period. The ACMA must then determine whether any of these faults are related to the root cause of the original faults. If a related fault occurs, Telstra must report to the ACMA on its revised remediation plan and the service is monitored for a further eight months.

Detailed NRF data tables can be found in Appendix G.

46 | acma Level 1 — Fault-free telephone services Figure 30 contains a comparison by month and year of the percentage of CSG-eligible services that did not experience a fault in the reported month.

Figure 30: Telstra – Percentage of CSG-eligible services without faults, comparison by year

e c i 100.0% v r e s

r 99.8% o

t l u a f 99.6% y n a

u 99.4% o h t i w

99.2% s s e e i c t i l v u r 99.0% c i e f f s i

d G

S 98.8% C

f o

e 98.6% g a t n

e 98.4% c r e p

l 98.2% a n o i t

a 98.0% N

2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

Although the percentage of CSG eligible services that did not experience a fault is consistently high over the five-year period shown in Figure 30, small changes in percentage represent relatively large changes in the number of faults occurring on the network.

Performance at this level has declined in 2008–09 compared to previous years. On a monthly basis in 2008–09, national performance varied between a high of 98.89 per cent (September 2008) and a low of 98.46 per cent (February 2009) compared with 2007–08 where performance ranged from a high of 99.12 per cent (September 2007) to a low of 98.61 per cent (February 2008).

Telstra reported that it had a total 6.28 million CSG eligible services at 30 June 2009. The number of services that experienced at least one fault in a month varied between 69,851 in September 2008 and 89,045 in March 2009. Telstra reported that, on average 79,756 services experienced a fault in any given month during 2008–09.

A general seasonal pattern in performance is suggested by Figure 30, with lower performance usually seen over the summer months.

acma | 47 Telephone service availability Telstra reports on the percentage of time in a month that telephone services are available on average (Level 1b). A service is considered available if it is not awaiting repair. This measure calculates the percentage of time all services were available in a month, by comparison with the total time services would have been available if there were no faults.

Nationally, in 2008–09, services in Australia were available on average for 99.91 per cent of the year. The corresponding figure for 2007–08, was 99.90. Overall there is a very high level of availability on Telstra’s fixed-line network.

Downtime for telephone services with faults The ACMA calculates the average time that fault-affected services are unavailable in a month, by dividing the sum of hours taken to restore faults in the month by the number of fault-affected services. Unlike the data for telephone service availability, this downtime, or unavailability measure, only includes services that had a fault in the month. This is an important measure of fault repair performance because it indicates whether faults were repaired promptly. Figure 31 shows the average time taken to restore faults.

In 2008–09, it took approximately 51 hours on average to restore services that had a fault. This is a decrease by comparison with 2007–08 (65 hours) and at the same level as for 2006–07 (51 hours). Annual figures for FSAs varied from 28 hours (Melbourne City and Dedicated Services) to 88 hours (WA Northern) in 2008–09. Figures for individual FSAs for the previous three years and a three-year average figure are provided in Appendix G.

Figure 31: Telstra – Average time taken to restore faults (hours), comparison by year

e l 90 b a l i a v

a 80 n u

e r e w

70 s e c i v r

e 60 s

G S C

50 d e t c e f f

a 40

t l u a f

a 30 h t

s r u o

h 20

n i

e m i t

10 e g a r e

v 0 A 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 4 5 6 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------r r r r r c n c c n c c n n n n p p p p p a a a a a e u e e u e e u u u u e e e e e J J J J J J M M M M M S D S D S D S D S D

2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

48 | acma Level 2 — Worst performing cable runs Each month, Telstra must identify and remediate the 40 lowest performing cable runs across all ESAs within predetermined quotas. Following remediation, these cable runs are then further assessed over a six-month period as to whether there has been at least a 90 per cent decrease in the volume of network events (a measure of faults). Failure to achieve this 90 per cent reduction results in closer scrutiny by the ACMA, as well as further assessment and remediation.

As of 30 June 2009, Telstra reported that remediation and monitoring was completed on 497 mandatory cable runs during 2008–09. Telstra also chose to voluntarily remediate an additional 58 cable runs that were associated with the nominated cable runs.

Telstra is required to remediate each reported cable run within a six-month period, but may request an extended remediation period in certain circumstances. During 2008– 09, the ACMA received requests from Telstra to extend remediation periods for 38 cable runs for a number of reasons including access to land and severe weather, of which 21 were approved.

Following remediation, cable runs are assessed over a six-month period against a criterion of a 90 per cent reduction in the volume of network events. Failure to achieve this criterion may result in closer scrutiny by the ACMA, as well as further remediation and assessment. Telstra achieved the 90 per cent reduction on over 98 per cent of the cable runs that had been assessed during 2008–09. Telstra was required to conduct further remediation work on six cable runs that did not meet the reduction target, while the ACMA waived the requirement for Telstra to conduct further remediation work for the remaining two cable runs that did not meet the target.

Level 3 — Individual service performance Telstra reported that 2,318 services contravened the Level 3 thresholds (3a and 3b) in 2008–09. This represents a 73 per cent increase in comparison with 2007–08 when 1,337 services contravened. Services reported as contravening Level 3 of the NRF represented 0.04 per cent of CSG eligible services in 2008–09 and 0.02 per cent of CSG eligible services in 2007–08.

Of the 2,318 services reported under level three of the NRF in 2008–09, there were 594 Level 3a contraventions (four or more faults in 60 days) and 1,724 Level 3b contraventions (five or more faults in 365 days).

Telstra reported an increase in the number of services experiencing breaches of the 60-day threshold in 2008–09, with the total number of services increasing by 106 per cent to 594 services, compared with 288 services in 2007–08.

On average, the number of services contravening Level 3a in 2008–09 was 49 per month, ranging from a low of 26 in October 2008 to a high of 79 in March 2009. In comparison, an average of 24 breaches per month were reported in 2007–08, ranging from a low of 13 services in November 2007 to a high of 33 services in both March and May 2008. Figure 32 suggests a level of seasonality in the occurrence of Level 3a contraventions, with the greatest number of contraventions being reported in March each year.

acma | 49 Figure 32: Telstra – Number of services with four or more faults in any 60-day period (Level 3)6, comparison by year

90.00

80.00

70.00 d e t r

o 60.00 p e r

e 50.00 c i v r e s

40.00 f o

r e

b 30.00 m u N 20.00

10.00

- 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 6 7 8 7 8 9 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------t t t r b r b r c b n c n c n g g c c c e p e p e p e u e u e u u u O J O J O J F A F A F A D D D A A

2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

During 2008–09, there was an increase in number of services experiencing a breach of the 365-day (Level 3b) threshold, with the total number of services reported increasing by 64 per cent to 1,724 services, compared with 1,049 services in 2007–08.

On average, the number of services which contravened Level 3b in 2008–09 was 144 per month, ranging from a low of 81 services in August 2008 to a high of 205 services in March 2009. In comparison, in 2007–08 an average of 87 breaches per month were reported, ranging from a low of 54 services in September 2007 through to a high of 125 services in June 2008 (see Figure 33).

6 Due to changes in reporting arrangements, data prior to October 2006 is not directly comparable for Levels 3a and 3b and therefore is not shown.

50 | acma Figure 33: Telstra – Number of services with five or more faults in any 365-day period (Level 3)7, comparison by year

250.00

200.00 d e t r o p e r 150.00 s e c i v r e s

f o

100.00 r e b m u N

50.00

- 6 7 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 9 9 7 7 8 8 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------t t t b n n r n c r c b r c b g g c c c e e p u e e p u e e p u u u O J O J O J F A F A F A D D D A A

2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

Telstra is required to remediate any service that breaches the fault thresholds and then monitor that service for an eight month period. If a service experiences a fault during the monitoring period, known as a monitoring period fault, Telstra must report this to the ACMA along with Telstra’s assessment on whether the fault is related or unrelated to the original faults that caused the contravention.

In 2008–09, Telstra reported 377 monitoring period faults (which affected 322 individual services) and assessed 13 of these as being related to the original contravention. In 2007–08, Telstra reported 261 monitoring period faults and assessed seven faults as related to the original contravention.

Telstra is required to report to the ACMA the expected date that remediation will be completed for each service reported under level 3. Telstra is also required to report quarterly on any services for which remediation has not been completed within the agreed timeframes. In 2008–09, Telstra reported 425 services as having delays to remediation, with the average delay being approximately 103 days. In 2007–08, Telstra reported 225 services as having delays to remediation, with the average delay being approximately 67 days.

7. Due to changes in reporting arrangements, data prior to October 2006 is not directly comparable for Levels 3a and 3b and therefore is not shown.

acma | 51 Appendix A – CSG Standard timeframes and compensation levels as of October 2006

Compensation payable per CSG timeframe (in working days) day late

New service connection Repair of Days 1–5 Day 6 Definition of In-place reported onwar Close to Not close to ResidentialBusiness area activation faults Area infrastructu infrastructur & charities customer ds re e s Urban ≥ 10,000 2 5 20 1 $14.52 $24.20 $48.40 people Major 2,501–9,999 2 10 20 2 rural people Minor 201–2,500 2 15* 20 rural people (10 for Telstra) Remote ≤ 200 people 2 15 20 3 * In January 2003, Telstra voluntarily reduced its CSG-eligible connection timeframe for new service connections in minor rural areas close to available infrastructure from 15 to 10 working days. All other carriage service providers work to a 15 working day timeframe.

52 | acma Appendix B – Telstra CSG data tables

Table B.1: Telstra – Number of CSG-eligible services Urban Rural Remote All areas 2004–05 5,454,144 1,450,223 26,009 6,930,376 2005–06 5,262,466 1,451,218 26,018 6,739,702 2006–07 4,869,148 1,422,447 20,908 6,312,503 2007–08 4,892,804 1,471,381 19,173 6,383,358 2008–09 4,922,003 1,340,575 18,283 6,280,861

Table B.2: Telstra – Number of CSG in-place connections Total number of in place CSG connections provided Minor Urban Major rural rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 286,571 31,717 31,278 193 349,759 VIC 154,494 20,338 19,151 14 193,997 QLD 193,913 24,651 32,060 2,472 253,096 SA 62,991 6,603 8,753 193 78,540 WA 109,094 8,609 12,650 1,149 131,502 TAS 18,159 5,298 4,993 n/a 28,450 NT 10,734 2,320 572 1,722 15,348 National 835,956 99,536 109,457 5,743 1,050,692 2006–07 NSW/ACT 226,649 26,041 26,598 192 279,480 VIC 136,185 18,855 17,557 24 172,621 QLD 159,560 20,927 28,822 2,071 211,380 SA 50,634 5,867 7,442 222 64,165 WA 83,402 6,882 10,308 996 101,588 TAS 15,477 4,540 4,515 n/a 24,532 NT 8,337 1,984 442 1,433 12,196 National 680,244 85,096 95,684 4,938 865,962 2007–08 NSW/ACT 224,623 27,459 28,166 175 280,423 VIC 140,258 21,367 18,297 15 179,937 QLD 159,074 22,307 30,034 1,937 213,352 SA 50,521 6,479 7,692 163 64,855 WA 80,281 7,458 9,797 898 98,434 TAS 15,044 4,649 4,413 0 24,106 NT 8,714 1,864 446 1,161 12,185 National 678,515 91,583 98,845 4,349 873,292 2008–09 NSW/ACT 202,277 25,896 23,316 130 251,619 VIC 132,151 14,148 15,719 15 162,033 QLD 142,068 19,900 24,199 1,650 187,817 SA 42,981 4,345 6,262 140 53,728 WA 68,350 7,197 7,546 658 83,751 TAS 14,171 4,181 3,880 0 22,232 NT 7,479 1,570 359 966 10,374 National 609,477 77,237 81,281 3,559 771,554

acma | 53 Table B.2: Telstra – Number of CSG in-place connections (continued) Number of in place connections provided within CSG timeframes Minor Urban Major rural rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 279,463 30,830 30,245 168 340,706 VIC 150,551 19,810 18,593 10 188,964 QLD 189,025 24,005 31,151 2,367 246,548 SA 61,574 6,431 8,506 183 76,694 WA 106,205 8,364 12,215 1,092 127,876 TAS 17,763 5,180 4,860 n/a 27,803 NT 10,503 2,267 519 1,642 14,931 National 815,084 96,887 106,089 5,462 1,023,522 2006–07 NSW/ACT 218,593 25,017 25,555 181 269,346 VIC 131,158 18,142 16,900 23 166,223 QLD 153,420 20,158 27,579 1,953 203,110 SA 48,859 5,640 7,163 211 61,873 WA 80,212 6,599 9,859 951 97,621 TAS 14,902 4,394 4,353 n/a 23,649 NT 8,063 1,908 404 1,369 11,744 National 655,207 81,858 91,813 4,688 833,566 2007–08 NSW/ACT 215,161 26,215 26,909 164 268,449 VIC 133,881 20,436 17,471 14 171,802 QLD 151,461 21,274 28,531 1,848 203,114 SA 48,228 6,179 7,366 153 61,926 WA 76,446 7,118 9,337 839 93,740 TAS 14,438 4,457 4,219 0 23,114 NT 8,353 1,799 405 1,094 11,651 National 647,968 87,478 94,238 4,112 833,796 2008–09 NSW/ACT 185,233 23,338 21,013 115 229,699 VIC 121,166 12,893 14,284 13 148,356 QLD 130,446 18,204 21,952 1,492 172,094 SA 39,135 3,928 5,722 126 48,911 WA 62,507 6,556 6,807 596 76,466 TAS 13,007 3,785 3,522 0 20,314 NT 6,911 1,460 328 884 9,583 National 558,405 70,164 73,628 3,226 705,423

54 | acma Table B.3: Telstra – Number of CSG new service connections Total number of new service CSG connections provided Minor Urban Major rural rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 163,880 13,791 15,659 90 193,420 VIC 106,211 13,241 11,520 10 130,982 QLD 108,078 12,461 17,243 1,005 138,787 SA 30,637 4,203 4,210 93 39,143 WA 57,509 4,018 5,542 754 67,823 TAS 7,626 2,423 2,182 n/a 12,231 NT 4,424 951 206 1,045 6,626 National 478,365 51,088 56,562 2,997 589,012 2006–07 NSW/ACT 119,617 10,961 11,902 87 142,567 VIC 85,614 11,142 9,840 2 106,598 QLD 88,848 11,162 15,340 847 116,197 SA 25,131 3,661 3,536 107 32,435 WA 44,421 3,896 4,933 639 53,889 TAS 6,495 2,122 2,088 n/a 10,705 NT 4,062 885 131 719 5,797 National 374,188 43,829 47,770 2,401 468,188 2007–08 NSW/ACT 120,336 10,755 12,716 94 143,901 VIC 86,329 11,752 10,629 5 108,715 QLD 88,490 10,720 15,577 758 115,545 SA 24,322 3,585 4,063 81 32,051 WA 41,119 3,270 4,907 489 49,785 TAS 5,985 1,993 2,103 0 10,081 NT 3,575 707 184 589 5,055 National 370,156 42,782 50,179 2,016 465,133 2008–09 NSW/ACT 121,503 10,131 11,687 86 143,407 VIC 91,071 7,978 10,314 6 109,369 QLD 85,243 10,003 14,175 733 110,154 SA 25,084 2,733 4,246 84 32,147 WA 40,695 3,380 4,568 419 49,062 TAS 5,794 2,228 2,136 0 10,158 NT 3,182 734 158 561 4,635 National 372,572 37,187 47,284 1,889 458,932

acma | 55 Table B.3: Telstra – Number of CSG new service connections (continued) Number of new service connections provided within CSG timeframes Minor Urban Major rural rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 156,318 13,258 14,795 84 184,455 VIC 100,419 12,632 10,848 10 123,909 QLD 103,625 11,897 16,248 908 132,678 SA 28,732 4,037 4,008 89 36,866 WA 54,556 3,866 5,283 724 64,429 TAS 7,309 2,354 2,075 n/a 11,738 NT 4,274 910 187 974 6,345 National 455,233 48,954 53,444 2,789 560,420 2006–07 NSW/ACT 113,270 10,512 10,985 78 134,845 VIC 80,325 10,529 9,111 1 99,966 QLD 83,463 10,635 14,182 765 109,045 SA 23,585 3,475 3,320 95 30,475 WA 41,779 3,746 4,607 580 50,712 TAS 6,100 2,007 1,905 n/a 10,012 NT 3,876 844 120 631 5,471 National 352,398 41,748 44,230 2,150 440,526 2007–08 NSW/ACT 106,418 10,075 11,452 76 128,021 VIC 74,827 10,641 9,259 5 94,732 QLD 76,726 9,794 13,841 677 101,038 SA 21,090 3,198 3,474 79 27,841 WA 36,444 3,000 4,372 458 44,274 TAS 4,986 1,750 1,819 0 8,555 NT 3,007 627 156 518 4,308 National 323,498 39,085 44,373 1,813 408,769 2008–09 NSW/ACT 106,665 9,168 10,355 74 126,262 VIC 80,808 7,091 9,022 5 96,926 QLD 76,314 9,029 12,539 630 98,512 SA 21,833 2,414 3,744 72 28,063 WA 35,428 2,984 3,942 337 42,691 TAS 5,044 1,979 1,851 0 8,874 NT 2,736 647 140 482 4,005 National 328,828 33,312 41,593 1,600 405,333

56 | acma Table B.4: Telstra – Number of reported CSG faults repaired Total faults repaired Urban Rural Remote All areas 2005–06 National 560,147 263,769 4,942 828,858 NSW/ACT 233,660 106,692 639 340,991 VIC 125,912 61,792 38 187,742 QLD 128,382 63,754 3,156 195,292 SA 48,452 15,257 249 63,958 WA 54,124 21,515 739 76,378 TAS 9,512 12,139 n/a 21,651 NT 7,856 3,818 1,454 13,128 National 607,898 284,967 6,275 899,140 2006–07 NSW/ACT 229,661 87,017 785 317,463 VIC 119,225 52,816 29 172,070 QLD 109,902 49,497 2,636 162,035 SA 44,745 12,839 183 57,767 WA 53,403 19,753 763 73,919 TAS 9,482 9,861 n/a 19,343 NT 7,124 3,247 1,085 11,456 National 573,542 235,030 5,481 814,053 2007–08 NSW/ACT 244,670 92,013 761 337,444 VIC 130,974 55,437 21 186,432 QLD 132,164 58,826 2,628 193,618 SA 46,666 12,753 146 59,565 WA 58,862 19,905 653 79,420 TAS 9,264 10,128 0 19,392 NT 6,211 2,801 1,064 10,076 National 628,811 251,863 5,273 885,947 2008–09 NSW/ACT 253,836 97,698 500 352,034 VIC 142,897 54,704 35 197,636 QLD 169,750 67,764 2,814 240,328 SA 53,602 12,674 204 66,480 WA 65,028 22,629 634 88,291 TAS 10,525 11,944 0 22,469 NT 6,903 3,220 1,090 11,213 National 702,541 270,633 5,277 978,451

acma | 57 Table B.4: Telstra – Number of reported CSG faults repaired (continued) Faults repaired within CSG Urban Rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 219,342 98,712 601 318,655 VIC 117,106 57,373 34 174,513 QLD 120,452 58,024 2,898 181,374 SA 44,510 14,080 245 58,835 WA 50,442 20,124 691 71,257 TAS 8,504 11,089 n/a 19,593 NT 7,494 3,546 1,349 12,389 National 567,850 262,948 5,818 836,616 2006–07 NSW/ACT 206,231 78,317 692 285,240 VIC 108,685 48,436 26 157,147 QLD 100,646 44,170 2,335 147,151 SA 39,392 11,727 177 51,296 WA 46,588 17,582 676 64,846 TAS 8,581 9,077 n/a 17,658 NT 6,457 2,985 933 10,375 National 516,580 212,294 4,839 733,713 2007–08 NSW/ACT 220,592 81,933 678 303,203 VIC 115,878 49,439 19 165,336 QLD 116,490 51,892 2,173 170,555 SA 39,399 11,412 139 50,950 WA 52,501 18,016 600 71,117 TAS 8,133 9,088 0 17,221 NT 5,040 2,359 936 8,335 National 558,033 224,139 4,545 786,717 2008-09 NSW/ACT 230,964 89,354 454 320,772 VIC 129,425 50,182 33 179,640 QLD 155,395 61,181 2,409 218,985 SA 47,433 11,432 194 59,059 WA 56,993 19,496 571 77,060 TAS 9,392 11,069 0 20,461 NT 5,910 2,892 956 9,758 National 635,512 245,606 4,617 885,735

Table B.5: Telstra – Percentage of in-place connections made within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Sep–06 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 Dec–06 96 96 95 96 95 96 95 96 Mar–07 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 Jun–07 97 97 96 96 97 97 97 97 Sep–07 96 96 96 96 96 97 96 96 Dec–07 96 95 95 96 95 96 94 95 Mar–08 96 95 95 95 95 96 96 95 Jun–08 96 95 95 95 95 95 96 95 Sep–08 92 92 92 92 93 93 95 92 Dec–08 90 90 90 89 89 89 91 90 Mar–09 92 93 92 91 91 92 91 92 Jun–09 91 91 92 92 91 92 92 92

58 | acma Table B.6: Telstra – Percentage of new service connections within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Sep–06 Urban 97 95 95 96 96 95 97 96 Major rural 97 96 97 96 97 96 98 97 Minor rural 94 93 93 97 96 92 97 94 Remote 86 n/o 94 86 95 n/a 86 91 All areas 96 95 95 96 96 95 96 96 Dec–06 Urban 96 96 95 96 96 94 98 96 Major rural 97 96 96 95 97 96 95 96 Minor rural 94 93 93 95 93 93 97 94 Remote 100 50 91 87 88 n/a 90 90 All areas 96 95 95 96 96 94 97 96 Mar–07 Urban 94 93 93 93 92 95 94 93 Major rural 95 94 94 95 96 96 95 95 Minor rural 91 93 92 93 93 91 91 92 Remote 86 n/o 88 88 93 n/a 88 89 All areas 94 93 93 94 93 94 94 93 Jun–07 Urban 91 91 92 90 91 91 91 91 Major rural 94 92 93 93 95 91 92 93 Minor rural 90 91 91 89 91 89 79 91 Remote 89 n/o 89 91 86 n/a 87 88 All areas 91 91 92 90 91 91 90 91 Sep–07 Urban 91 88 90 91 88 87 89 90 Major rural 94 93 92 93 94 90 91 93 Minor rural 90 89 90 90 92 88 80 90 Remote 75 100 88 100 92 - 92 90 All areas 91 89 91 91 89 87 89 90 Dec–07 Urban 91 86 87 85 87 82 89 88 Major rural 95 91 93 90 93 89 88 92 Minor rural 91 90 89 85 90 88 88 90 Remote 77 n/o 95 100 96 - 90 93 All areas 91 87 88 85 88 85 89 88

acma | 59 Table B.6: Telstra – Percentage of new service connections within CSG timeframes, quarterly (continued) NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Mar–08 Urban 92 91 92 93 94 87 87 92 Major rural 95 92 93 92 92 90 91 93 Minor rural 93 87 91 88 88 88 83 90 Remote 91 100 88 94 91 - 88 89 All areas 93 91 92 93 93 88 87 92 Jun–08 Urban 80 82 77 78 85 77 70 80 Major rural 90 86 88 83 88 83 86 87 Minor rural 85 83 85 80 87 83 88 84 Remote 86 100 87 96 96 - 82 88 All areas 81 82 79 79 86 80 75 81 Sep–08 urban 86 85 85 84 84 83 83 85 Major rural 89 86 87 86 85 84 88 87 Minor rural 87 83 83 84 83 80 91 84 Remote 83 n/o 85 94 75 - 82 82 All areas 86 85 85 84 84 82 84 85 Dec–08 Urban 87 88 90 86 86 87 86 88 Major 89 88 90 88 85 88 84 89 Rural Minor rural 87 88 89 89 86 87 80 88 Remote 89 100 85 74 82 - 88 85 All areas 87 88 90 86 86 87 86 88 Mar–09 Urban 89 93 90 89 89 89 87 89 Major rural 92 94 93 90 92 92 90 92 Minor rural 90 90 90 91 88 90 93 90 Remote 87 100 85 88 83 - 82 84 All areas 90 92 91 89 89 90 87 90 Jun–09 Urban 89 90 92 90 89 90 88 90 Major rural 92 90 91 91 92 92 91 91 Minor rural 90 88 92 90 89 90 89 90 Remote 84 75 88 81 82 - 92 88 All areas 89 90 92 90 89 90 89 90

60 | acma Table B.7: Telstra – Percentage of reported faults repaired within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Jun–06 Urban 95 92 94 92 95 91 96 94 Rural 93 95 90 92 94 92 94 93 Remote 91 100 88 96 91 n/a 92 90 All areas 94 93 93 92 95 91 95 94 Sep–06 Urban 90 92 93 93 93 94 93 92 Rural 91 93 89 93 92 94 98 91 Remote 90 80 88 100 92 n/a 89 90 All areas 90 92 92 93 93 94 93 92 Dec–06 Urban 92 92 93 91 90 93 93 92 Rural 90 91 90 92 88 92 93 90 Remote 90 100 91 98 89 n/a 88 90 All areas 91 92 92 92 90 93 93 91 Mar–07 Urban 86 87 90 86 80 85 84 86 Rural 88 91 88 90 87 90 88 88 Remote 81 80 86 98 86 n/a 84 86 All areas 87 88 89 87 82 87 86 87 Jun–07 Urban 92 94 91 84 87 92 96 91 Rural 93 93 90 91 90 93 93 92 Remote 91 100 90 91 88 n/a 83 89 All areas 92 94 91 85 88 92 94 91 Sep–07 Urban 90 90 90 88 86 91 94 90 Rural 90 89 89 90 90 91 92 90 Remote 92 83 88 98 91 - 92 90 All areas 90 90 90 88 87 91 93 90 Dec–07 Urban 91 87 87 86 89 85 86 89 Rural 87 89 87 91 91 85 86 88 Remote 86 100 84 96 93 - 92 87 All areas 90 87 87 87 90 85 86 88 Mar–08 Urban 92 86 91 89 91 87 78 90 Rural 92 91 91 90 90 91 82 91 Remote 91 80 82 97 89 - 83 85 All areas 92 88 91 89 91 89 80 90 Jun–08 Urban 87 91 85 77 90 88 71 87 Rural 87 88 86 87 91 91 80 87 Remote 90 100 76 89 96 - 88 84 All areas 87 90 85 79 90 89 75 87 Sep–08 Urban 89 91 86 85 85 90 80 88 Rural 91 90 89 90 86 94 91 90 Remote 90 100 85 98 89 - 89 88 All areas 90 90 87 86 85 92 83 88 Dec–08 Urban 91 90 94 88 87 89 81 91 Rural 91 91 92 90 88 93 88 91 Remote 90 100 85 92 92 - 84 86 All areas 91 90 93 88 87 91 84 91

acma | 61 Table B.7: Telstra – Percentage of reported faults repaired within CSG timeframes, quarterly (continued) NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Mar–09 Urban 91 91 91 89 89 88 89 91 Rural 91 92 89 91 84 91 88 90 Remote 93 100 89 98 88 - 87 89 All areas 91 91 90 90 88 90 89 90 Jun–09 Urban 93 91 94 91 90 90 91 92 Rural 93 93 91 90 87 93 95 92 Remote 90 85 82 94 91 - 92 86 All areas 93 92 93 91 90 92 92 92

Table B.8: Telstra – Number of connections provided after CSG timeframes, quarterly Number of CSG connections: 1–5 days after 6–10 days after 11–20 days after > 20 days after CSG timeframes CSG timeframes CSG timeframes CSG timeframes Sep–05 6,633 391 117 62 Dec–05 6,510 376 117 48 Mar–06 7,198 429 143 51 Jun–06 7,166 550 154 71 Sep–06 7,480 492 203 81 Dec–06 7,865 620 241 85 Mar–07 9,465 636 235 121 Jun–07 10,030 683 285 150 Sep–07 12,819 1,294 446 190 Dec–07 15,160 1,329 435 154 Mar–08 9,613 894 294 101 Jun–08 20,113 2,581 909 418 Sep–08 18,662 2,571 1319 768 Dec–08 18,162 2,731 1207 645 Mar–09 14,595 2,086 1,166 648 Jun–09 14,119 1,660 717 677

62 | acma Table B.9: Telstra – Number of reported faults repaired after CSG timeframes, quarterly Number of CSG fault repairs 1–5 days after 6–10 days after 11–20 days after > 20 days after CSG timeframes CSG timeframes CSG timeframes CSG timeframes Sep–04 13,486 632 256 204 Dec–04 21,669 825 401 229 Mar–05 21,425 840 389 182 Jun–05 15,528 620 343 221 Sep–05 13,122 558 280 132 Dec–05 17,634 650 264 208 Mar–06 16,855 750 326 203 Jun–06 12,260 649 264 203 Sep–06 14,574 549 250 190 Dec–06 14,638 730 341 193 Mar–07 28,221 1,106 428 310 Jun–07 17,454 763 364 229 Sep–07 18,809 907 439 201 Dec–07 22,603 992 257 95 Mar–08 22,253 1,030 244 59 Jun–08 29,114 1,520 429 278 Sep–08 23,750 1,381 481 163 Dec–08 20,090 1,117 346 128 Mar–09 22,975 1537 599 176 Jun–09 18,490 894 371 218

Table B.10: Telstra – CSG compensation payments Number of payments Total paid ($) Average $ per payment 2003–04 218,397 $6,065,298 $27.77 2004–05 174,143 $6,105,348 $35.06 2005–06 145,728 $4,391,692 $30.14 2006–07 167,179 $5,311,511 $31.77 2007–08 195,216 $7,891,387 $40.42 2008–09 181,066 $8,338,066 $46.05

acma | 63 Appendix C – Optus CSG data tables

Table C.1: Optus – Number of CSG-eligible services Urban Rural Remote All areas 2004–05 958,328 142,145 10,550 1,111,023 2005–06 981,707 136,938 10,038 1,128,683 2006–07 1,095,600 13,261 523 1,109,384 2007–08 1,023,545 10,872 397 1,034,814 2008–09 907,674 7,101 225 915,000

Table C.2: Optus – Number of CSG in-place connections on its own network* Total number of CSG connections NSW/ACT VIC QLD National 2004–05 7,614 8,473 4,033 20,120 2005–06 7,148 7,573 3,595 18,316 2006–07 6,773 6,573 2,567 15,914 2007–08 6,914 6,646 4,340 17,905 2008–09 4,082 3,949 1,774 9,814 Provided within CSG timeframe 2004–05 7,490 8,307 3,997 19,794 2005–06 7,028 7,446 3,558 18,032 2006–07 6,615 6,385 2,527 15,528 2007–08 6,758 6,473 4,262 17,498 2008–09 3,963 3,836 1,747 9,555 * located in urban areas only. Note: the above numbers exclude reseller activity on non-Optus networks

Table C.3: Optus – Number of CSG new service connections on its own network* Total CSG connections NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA National 2004–05 28,978 31,256 14325 n/a n/a 74,559 2005–06 26,185 27,314 11874 n/a n/a 65,373 2006–07 38,678 36,150 13734 1,242 1,116 90,920 2007–08 76,684 56,157 48382 5,772 7,755 194,750 2008–09 80,367 58,033 42151 7,757 9,596 197,904 Provided within CSG timeframe 2004–05 28,801 31,119 14,286 n/a n/a 74,206 2005–06 25,936 27,145 11,738 n/a n/a 64,819 2006–07 35,487 33,000 12,861 964 872 83,184 2007–08 67,275 50,222 41,605 4,353 5,633 169,088 2008–09 76,896 55,966 40,535 7,455 9,025 189,877

64 | acma Table C.4: Optus – Number of reported CSG faults repaired Total fault repairs Urban Rural Remote All Areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 61,619 1,147 24 62,790 Vic 39,080 507 36 39,623 Qld 28,193 925 3 29,121 SA 7,207 144 2 7,353 WA 6,171 207 40 6,418 TAS 596 33 2 631 NT 502 57 7 566 National 143,368 3,020 114 146,502 2006–07 NSW/ACT 66,299 862 30 67,191 Vic 40,604 368 16 40,988 Qld 19,914 530 2 20,446 SA 5,886 82 0 5,968 WA 5,140 145 44 5,329 TAS 322 19 2 343 NT 390 32 1 423 National 138,555 2,038 95 140,688 2007–08 NSW/ACT 84,033 464 20 84,517 Vic 47,106 246 5 47,357 Qld 40,959 716 5 41,680 SA 5,376 43 2 5,421 WA 5,743 75 21 5,839 TAS 103 2 0 105 NT 117 13 0 130 National 183,437 1,559 53 185,049 2008–09 NSW/ACT 80,324 289 4 80,617 Vic 45,498 155 9 45,662 Qld 35,839 248 1 36,088 SA 4,980 37 0 5,017 WA 6,550 46 10 6,606 TAS 71 4 0 75 NT 46 5 0 51 National 173,308 784 24 174,116

acma | 65 Table C.4: Optus – Number of reported CSG faults repaired (continued) Repairs met within CSG Urban Rural Remote All Areas timeframes 2005–06 NSW/ACT 64,999 1,207 32 66,238 Vic 41,873 544 31 42,448 Qld 26,366 849 4 27,219 SA 6,362 114 3 6,479 WA 6,888 268 54 7,210 TAS 668 29 1 698 NT 604 73 0 677 National 147,760 3,084 125 150,969 2006–07 NSW/ACT 58,846 1,004 22 59,872 Vic 37,270 437 30 37,737 Qld 26,696 867 3 27,566 SA 6,761 123 2 6,886 WA 5,863 185 35 6,083 TAS 542 31 2 575 NT 481 50 6 537 National 136,459 2,697 100 139,256 2007–08 NSW/ACT 62,477 776 29 63,282 Vic 37,009 330 13 37,352 Qld 18,966 489 1 19,456 SA 5,429 73 0 5,502 WA 4,737 137 42 4,916 TAS 300 17 2 3,19 NT 372 31 1 404 National 129,290 1,853 88 131,231 2008–09 NSW/ACT 74,223 430 19 74,672 Vic 41,443 217 5 41,665 Qld 34,092 579 1 34,672 SA 4,365 41 2 4,408 WA 4,313 65 18 4,396 TAS 92 1 0 93 NT 103 9 0 112 National 158,631 1,342 45 160,018

66 | acma Table C.5: Optus – Percentage of in-place connections made within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD National Sep–05 99 98 100 99 Dec–05 98 99 99 99 Mar–06 97 97 98 98 Jun–06 99 99 99 99 Sep–06 98 98 98 98 Dec–06 98 97 99 98 Mar–07 97 96 99 97 Jun–07 98 97 98 98 Sep–07 98 98 98 98 Dec–07 98 98 98 98 Mar–08 98 97 98 98 Jun–08 98 98 98 99 Sep–08 96 96 98 96 Dec–08 98 98 99 98 Mar–09 98 98 99 98 Jun–09 98 98 99 98

Table C.6: Optus – Percentage of new service connections made within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA National Sep–05 100 100 100 n/a n/a 100 Dec–05 99 100 100 n/a n/a 100 Mar–06 99 99 97 n/a n/a 99 Jun–06 98 99 99 n/a n/a 99 Sep–06 91 94 95 80 77 93 Dec–06 93 94 94 71 74 93 Mar–07 93 88 94 75 81 91 Jun–07 91 90 89 81 79 90 Sep–07 91 94 91 84 78 91 Dec–07 91 90 88 85 79 90 Mar–08 81 86 80 72 76 82 Jun–08 88 88 82 68 61 85 Sep–08 94 94 93 91 91 94 Dec–08 96 97 97 97 94 97 Mar–09 96 97 97 98 95 96 Jun–09 96 97 97 98 95 96 * Note: Optus' network only covers urban areas.

acma | 67 Table C.7: Optus – Percentage of reported faults repaired within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Sep–06 Urban 96 96 96 95 95 93 98 96 Rural 93 90 92 85 100 50 100 92 Remote 100 83 n/o n/o 100 100 n/o 96 All areas 96 96 96 95 95 92 98 96 Dec–06 Urban 94 91 96 95 95 94 96 94 Rural 91 89 92 95 100 100 100 92 Remote 100 100 n/o n/o 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 94 91 96 95 95 94 96 94 Mar–07 Urban 94 88 95 89 89 92 93 92 Rural 89 87 93 83 87 83 90 89 Remote 75 100 50 n/o 33 n/o 100 67 All areas 94 88 95 89 89 91 92 92 Jun–07 Urban 93 89 93 90 90 95 94 92 Rural 87 92 92 95 91 100 100 90 Remote 100 60 n/o n/o 100 100 n/o 86 All areas 93 89 93 90 90 95 95 92 Sep–07 Urban 92 93 86 88 84 92 95 90 Rural 95 78 74 100 88 0 75 79 Remote 100 100 20 n/o 80 n/o n/o 71 All areas 92 93 86 88 84 90 93 90 Dec–07 Urban 90 90 85 87 82 93 91 89 Rural 88 89 82 100 78 n/o 60 86 Remote 100 100 n/o 100 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 90 90 85 87 83 93 86 89 Mar–08 Urban 86 83 81 77 68 82 81 83 Rural 95 99 96 92 86 100 67 95 Remote 100 100 n/o 100 67 n/o n/o 80 All areas 86 83 81 77 68 83 80 83 Jun–08 Urban 86 89 77 71 69 90 84 84 Rural 89 93 94 88 92 Na 100 92 Remote 0 100 Na Na 100 Na Na 75 All areas 86 89 78 71 69 90 85 84 Sep–08 Urban 89 89 83 76 74 100 55 86 Rural 92 88 90 100 82 100 100 90 Remote 100 100 n/o n/o 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 89 89 83 76 73 100 58 87 Dec–08 Urban 93 91 94 84 82 95 88 92 Rural 93 93 96 83 89 100 100 94 Remote n/o 100 n/o n/o 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 93 91 94 84 82 96 89 92 Mar–09 Urban 92 93 92 82 80 93 87 92 Rural 93 91 95 100 87 0 n/o 92 Remote n/o 75 n/o n/o 100 n/o n/o 89 All areas 92 93 92 82 80 87 87 92 Jun–09 Urban 92 94 94 89 88 100 100 93 Rural 94 97 97 93 73 n/o 100 94 Remote 100 100 100 n/o n/o n/o n/o 100 All areas 92 94 94 89 88 100 100 93

68 | acma Table C.8: Optus – Number of connections provided after CSG timeframes, quarterly Number of CSG connections: 1–5 days after 6–10 days after 11–20 days after > 20 days after CSG timeframes CSG timeframes CSG timeframes CSG timeframes Sep–05 85 7 1 0 Dec–05 120 10 3 3 Mar–06 289 23 5 0 Jun–06 263 20 7 3 Sep–06 1,500 197 69 23 Dec–06 1,171 303 163 27 Mar–07 1,642 308 149 27 Jun–07 2,108 359 67 9 Sep–07 3,115 777 287 29 Dec–07 4,590 578 191 17 Mar–08 6,814 1,584 433 31 Jun–08 6,124 1,122 351 26 Sep–08 2,366 413 120 7 Dec–08 1,374 147 56 4 Mar–09 1,520 277 69 4 Jun–09 1,671 211 35 6

Table C.9: Optus – Number of reported faults repaired after CSG timeframes, quarterly Number of CSG fault repairs 1–5 days after 6–10 days after 11–20 days after > 20 days after CSG timeframes CSG timeframes CSG timeframes CSG timeframes Sep–05 1,206 35 17 7 Dec–05 1,808 65 17 13 Mar–06 2,264 76 11 11 Jun–06 1,573 93 28 22 Sep–06 1,595 63 23 17 Dec–06 2,032 111 31 9 Mar–07 2,341 133 55 18 Jun–07 2,834 99 66 30 Sep–07 5,024 460 183 46 Dec–07 3,930 336 98 27 Mar–08 7,849 1126 263 55 Jun–08 5,039 439 141 35 Sep–08 5,516 352 108 30 Dec–08 3,483 162 50 13 Mar–09 3,413 218 64 8 Jun–09 2,811 93 36 6

acma | 69 Table C.10: Optus – CSG compensation payments Number of payments Total paid Average $ per payment 2003–04 9,866 $246,884 $25.02 2004–05 5,437 $155,608 $28.62 2005–06 8,826 $321,412 $36.42 2006–07 26,063 $1,204,062 $46.20 2007–08 47,426 $3,883,895 $81.89 2008–09 22,000 $1,332,414 $60.56

70 | acma Appendix D – AAPT CSG data tables

Table D.1: AAPT – Number of CSG-eligible services Urban Rural Remote All areas 2003–04 255,337 69,130 499 324,966 2004–05 401,381 138,301 1,088 540,770 2005–06 432,009 149,766 1,040 582,815 2006–07 322,134 105,818 652 428,604 2007–08 250,742 79,540 468 330,750 2008–09 185,676 63,868 274 249,818

Table D.2: AAPT – Number of CSG in-place connections Total in-place connections Urban Major rural Minor rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 14,993 3,353 482 10 18,838 VIC 7,877 1,872 604 12 10,365 QLD 12,804 3,135 605 10 16,554 SA 1,902 1,452 274 9 3,637 WA 6,280 1,767 511 27 8,585 TAS 593 294 104 n/o 991 NT 483 97 25 n/o 605 National 44,932 11,970 2,605 68 59,575 2006–07 NSW/ACT 13,323 2,984 482 8 16,797 VIC 7,904 1,866 533 9 10,312 QLD 12,381 2,853 451 n/o 15,685 SA 1,724 1,321 222 7 3,274 WA 4,937 1,520 356 22 6,835 TAS 428 262 94 3 787 NT 407 106 38 n/o 551 National 41,104 10,912 2,176 49 54,241 2007–08 NSW/ACT 7,387 1,573 216 4 9,180 VIC 4,207 938 307 8 5,460 QLD 646 1,501 228 6 2,381 SA 878 764 143 2 1,787 WA 2,394 674 176 15 3,259 TAS 249 155 39 - 443 NT 196 41 5 - 242 National 21,775 5,646 1,114 35 28,570 2008–09 NSW/ACT 5,097 1,176 158 4 6,435 VIC 2,910 683 225 6 3,824 QLD 4,244 1,016 117 3 5,380 SA 672 470 58 2 1,202 WA 1,593 555 102 33 2,283 TAS 144 46 23 0 213 NT 133 36 4 0 173 National 14,793 3,982 687 48 19,510

acma | 71 Table D.2: AAPT – Number of CSG in-place connections (continued) Provided within CSG timeframes Urban Major rural Minor rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 14,734 3,293 465 10 18,502 VIC 7,750 1,850 593 12 10,205 QLD 12,674 3,090 595 10 16,369 SA 1,872 1,438 267 9 3,586 WA 6,188 1,734 505 27 8,454 TAS 585 291 104 n/o 980 NT 477 97 25 n/o 599 National 44,280 11,793 2,554 68 58,695 2006–07 NSW/ACT 13,204 2,946 479 8 16,637 VIC 7,836 1,838 527 9 10,210 QLD 12,267 2,814 441 n/o 15,522 SA 1,706 1,311 216 7 3,240 WA 4,891 1,504 355 22 6,772 TAS 425 261 93 3 782 NT 404 104 37 n/o 545 National 40,733 10,778 2,148 49 53,708 2007–08 NSW/ACT 6,784 1,441 197 4 8,426 VIC 3,838 862 289 8 4,997 QLD 5,970 1,387 217 6 7,580 SA 803 713 136 2 1,654 WA 2,236 631 168 14 3,049 TAS 233 142 36 0 411 NT 183 39 5 0 227 National 20,047 5,215 1,048 34 26,344 2008–09 NSW/ACT 4,764 1,130 145 4 6,043 VIC 2,721 646 215 6 3,588 QLD 3,980 959 114 3 5,056 SA 637 439 49 2 1,127 WA 1,491 532 96 33 2,152 TAS 139 43 21 0 203 NT 126 35 1 0 162 National 13,858 3,784 641 48 18,331

72 | acma Table D.3: AAPT – Number of CSG new service connections Total new service connections Urban Major rural Minor rural Remote All areas 2004–05 NSW/ACT 17,779 4,060 613 17 22,469 VIC 9,110 2,281 709 24 12,124 QLD 14,316 3,611 715 6 18,648 SA 2,189 1,741 335 13 4,278 WA 7,142 2,211 615 56 10,024 TAS 710 402 103 2 1,217 NT 546 107 31 n/o 684 National 51,792 14,413 3,121 118 69,444 2005–06 NSW/ACT 19,031 4,425 612 23 24,091 VIC 10,090 2,483 804 21 13,398 QLD 16,153 4,062 736 13 20,964 SA 2,348 1,778 337 15 4,478 WA 7,735 2,342 667 33 10,777 TAS 701 363 127 32 1,223 NT 569 124 36 n/o 729 National 56,627 15,577 3,319 137 75,660 2006–07 NSW/ACT 3,225 781 93 4 4,103 VIC 2,114 510 148 7 2,779 QLD 2,779 723 111 2 3,615 SA 380 328 60 2 770 WA 1,104 447 106 10 1,667 TAS 73 45 12 n/o 130 NT 64 24 7 n/o 95 National 9,739 2,858 537 25 13,159 2007–08 NSW/ACT 3,407 820 98 4 4,329 VIC 2,107 436 119 3 2,665 QLD 2,689 728 88 4 3,509 SA 470 322 60 6 858 WA 961 269 77 8 1,315 TAS 119 46 9 0 174 NT 83 12 0 0 95 National 9,836 2,633 451 25 12,945 2008–09 NSW/ACT 3,164 761 142 7 4,074 VIC 2,075 357 92 4 2,528 QLD 2,721 520 130 2 3,373 SA 665 256 34 4 959 WA 749 292 46 0 1,087 TAS 84 16 3 0 103 NT 53 17 3 0 73 National 9,511 2,219 450 17 12,197

acma | 73 Table D.3: AAPT – Number of CSG new service connections (continued) Provided within CSG Standard timeframes Urban Major rural Minor rural Remote All areas 2004–05 NSW/ACT 17,390 3,959 594 17 21,960 VIC 8,926 2,236 692 23 11,877 QLD 13,972 3,539 688 6 18,205 SA 2,151 1,710 324 13 4,198 WA 7,032 2,177 595 55 9,859 TAS 700 391 103 2 1,196 NT 525 104 31 n/o 660 National 50,696 14,116 3,027 116 67,955 2005–06 NSW/ACT 18,564 4,300 589 23 23,476 VIC 9,885 2,426 774 21 13,106 QLD 15,856 3,950 718 13 20,537 SA 2,301 1,745 326 15 4,387 WA 7,573 2,297 647 33 10,550 TAS 685 352 127 31 1,195 NT 556 121 35 n/o 712 National 55,420 15,191 3,216 136 73,963 2006–07 NSW/ACT 3,092 752 90 4 3,938 VIC 2,033 490 136 7 2,666 QLD 2,651 687 104 2 3,444 SA 360 303 56 2 721 WA 1,063 433 103 10 1,609 TAS 71 43 11 n/o 125 NT 64 22 7 n/o 93 National 9,334 2,730 507 25 12,596 2007–08 NSW/ACT 2,903 751 92 3 3,749 VIC 1,751 395 112 3 2,261 QLD 2,294 675 85 4 3,058 SA 391 295 58 6 750 WA 822 247 75 7 1,151 TAS 97 38 8 0 143 NT 64 11 0 0 75 National 8,322 2,412 430 23 11,187 2008–09 NSW/ACT 2,867 729 136 7 3,739 VIC 1,880 341 87 4 2,312 QLD 2,460 496 127 2 3,085 SA 633 232 32 3 900 WA 687 274 43 0 1,004 TAS 78 15 3 0 96 NT 48 15 1 0 64 National 8,653 2,102 429 16 11,200

74 | acma Table D.4: AAPT – Number of reported CSG faults repaired Total faults repaired Urban Rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 23,578 5,485 26 29,089 VIC 9,661 3,497 28 13,186 QLD 14,147 3,838 16 18,001 SA 2,411 1,818 30 4,259 WA 6,126 2,226 63 8,415 TAS 657 644 1 1,302 NT 734 213 n/o 947 National 57,314 17,721 164 75,199 2006–07 NSW/ACT 26,017 6,585 31 32,633 VIC 10,554 4,229 41 14,824 QLD 13,066 4,144 17 17,227 SA 2,429 2,433 13 4,875 WA 6,077 2,597 74 8,748 TAS 509 568 3 1,080 NT 579 171 2 752 National 59,231 20,727 181 80,139 2007–08 NSW/ACT 25,406 5,657 21 31,084 VIC 11,820 3,706 23 15,549 QLD 13,228 3,445 19 16,692 SA 2,294 1,809 14 4,117 WA 4,923 1,689 58 6,670 TAS 727 452 5 1,184 NT 423 128 3 554 National 58,821 16,886 143 75,850 2008–09 NSW/ACT 20,062 3,996 19 24,077 VIC 8,943 2,304 38 11,285 QLD 13,303 2,674 22 15,999 SA 2,538 1,393 11 3,942 WA 5,176 1,293 16 6,485 TAS 499 275 1 775 NT 536 91 2 629 National 51,057 12,026 109 63,192

acma | 75 Table D.4: AAPT – Number of reported CSG faults repaired (continued) Repaired within CSG timeframes Urban Rural Remote All areas 2005–06 NSW/ACT 22,897 5,209 24 28,130 VIC 9,347 3,318 26 12,691 QLD 13,794 3,637 16 17,447 SA 2,338 1,732 27 4,097 WA 5,950 2,134 63 8,147 TAS 614 608 0 1,222 NT 713 205 n/o 918 National 55,653 16,843 156 72,652 2006–07 NSW/ACT 25,241 6,327 25 31,593 VIC 10,241 4,091 40 14,372 QLD 12,760 3,989 16 16,765 SA 2,330 2,334 12 4,676 WA 5,873 2,493 74 8,440 TAS 489 543 3 1,035 NT 556 163 1 720 National 57,490 19,940 171 77,601 2007–08 NSW/ACT 24,635 5,452 18 30,105 VIC 11,447 3,611 22 15,080 QLD 12,685 3,315 18 16,018 SA 2,190 1,724 13 3,927 WA 4,778 1,616 53 6,447 TAS 707 445 5 1,157 NT 401 116 3 520 National 56,843 16,279 132 73,254 2008–09 NSW/ACT 19,069 3,321 15 22,405 VIC 8,426 1,945 35 10,406 QLD 12,598 2,285 17 14,900 SA 2,372 1,110 8 3,490 WA 4,703 1,033 13 5,749 TAS 424 215 1 640 NT 507 80 1 588 National 48,099 9,989 90 58,178

76 | acma Table D.5: AAPT – Percentage of in-place connections made within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Sep–05 98 98 98 98 99 98 98 98 Dec–05 98 98 99 98 98 99 99 98 Mar–06 98 98 99 98 98 99 99 98 Jun–06 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Sep–06 99 99 99 99 99 100 98 99 Dec–06 99 99 99 99 99 99 100 99 Mar–07 99 99 99 99 99 100 99 99 Jun–07 99 99 99 99 99 99 98 99 Sep–07 99 99 99 99 99 99 97 99 Dec–07 87 87 89 88 89 87 97 88 Mar–08 85 86 88 88 89 85 86 87 Jun–08 93 92 89 93 93 96 93 92 Sep–08 94 94 92 91 93 97 100 93 Dec–08 90 90 92 93 92 92 86 91 Mar–09 95 96 97 96 97 95 92 96 Jun–09 93 91 92 93 91 94 92 92

acma | 77 Table D.6: AAPT – Percentage of new service connections made within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Sep–06 Urban 98 98 96 94 97 100 100 97 Major rural 99 97 95 90 98 100 100 96 Minor rural 100 90 97 100 97 100 n/o 96 Remote n/o 100 100 n/o 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 98 98 96 93 97 100 100 97 Dec–06 Urban 96 96 97 98 97 95 100 96 Major rural 97 96 96 91 96 83 86 96 Minor rural 100 93 92 100 97 100 100 96 Remote 100 n/o 100 n/o 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 96 96 97 95 97 91 96 96 Mar–07 Urban 97 96 96 92 97 100 100 96 Major rural 96 95 97 94 97 100 88 96 Minor rural 95 95 97 92 100 100 n/o 96 Remote 100 100 n/o 100 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 97 95 96 93 97 100 96 96 Jun–07 Urban 92 94 93 95 93 92 100 93 Major rural 94 95 91 94 96 100 100 94 Minor rural 93 90 87 57 96 75 100 90 Remote 100 n/o n/o n/o 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 93 94 92 93 94 92 100 93 Sep–07 Urban 94 93 95 90 96 93 100 94 Major rural 94 87 96 95 97 92 100 94 Minor rural 86 93 93 94 100 67 n/o 92 Remote n/o 100 n/o n/o 50 n/o n/o 75 All areas 94 92 95 93 96 90 100 94 Dec–07 Urban 70 66 67 57 68 39 38 67 Major rural 85 89 91 85 87 77 100 87 Minor rural 95 96 100 96 95 100 n/o 96 Remote 0 n/o n/o 100 100 n/o n/o 80 All areas 74 72 74 74 75 54 50 73 Mar–08 Urban 86 85 87 86 87 94 90 86 Major rural 94 97 93 95 97 83 100 94 Minor rural 100 96 96 100 94 100 n/o 97 Remote 100 100 100 100 100 n/o n/o 100 All areas 88 87 88 91 90 92 91 88 Jun–08 Urban 90 90 90 90 89 87 62 90 Major rural 93 89 89 90 84 78 67 89 Minor rural 94 90 96 100 100 100 n/o 95 Remote 100 n/o n/o 100 n/o n/o n/o 100 All areas 91 90 90 90 89 86 63 90 Sep–08 Urban 88 90 88 94 87 90 100 89 Major Rural 99 99 99 94 97 100 100 98 Minor Rural 98 100 100 100 86 100 n/o 97 Remote 100 100 100 100 n/o n/o n/o 100 All areas 90 92 90 94 89 93 100 91

78 | acma Table D.6: AAPT – Percentage of new service connections made within CSG timeframes, quarterly (continued) NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT National Dec–08 Urban 82 79 83 88 88 93 82 82 Major Rural 91 92 91 78 85 100 100 89 Minor Rural 93 90 100 83 100 n/o 50 94 Remote n/o n/o n/o 0 n/o n/o n/o 0 All areas 84 82 85 84 88 93 84 84 Mar–09 Urban 93 94 93 97 95 96 90 94 Major Rural 96 93 94 89 91 100 75 93 Minor Rural 98 90 96 83 90 n/o 0 93 Remote n/o n/o n/o n/o n/o n/o n/o n/o All areas 94 94 93 95 94 97 85 94 Jun–09 Urban 94 90 93 95 93 50 75 93 Major rural 91 94 94 89 96 83 67 93 Minor rural 80 100 94 100 100 100 n/o 94 Remote n/o n/o n/o 100 n/o n/o n/o 100 All areas 93 91 93 94 95 75 71 93 n/o = no orders

acma | 79 Table D.7: AAPT – Percentage of reported faults repaired within CSG timeframes, quarterly NSW/ACT Vic Qld SA WA TAS NT National Sep–06 Urban 97 97 98 99 99 97 99 98 Rural 97 97 97 98 98 98 98 97 Remote 100 100 88 100 100 n/o 50 96 All areas 97 97 98 98 99 98 99 98 Dec–06 Urban 98 98 98 99 99 97 98 98 Rural 97 98 98 98 98 99 89 98 Remote 17 100 100 100 100 n/o n/o 90 All areas 98 98 98 98 99 98 97 98 Mar–07 Urban 94 95 96 91 92 92 91 94 Rural 93 94 94 91 91 88 92 93 Remote 90 93 100 n/o 100 100 n/o 95 All areas 94 95 96 91 91 90 92 94 Jun–07 Urban 99 99 98 95 97 98 96 98 Rural 98 98 97 98 97 98 100 98 Remote 100 100 100 86 100 n/o n/o 98 All areas 98 98 98 96 97 98 97 98 Sep–07 Urban 97 97 98 97 96 99 96 97 Rural 97 98 97 96 95 99 100 97 Remote 100 100 100 100 91 100 n/o 97 All areas 97 97 98 97 95 99 97 97 Dec–07 Urban 97 97 95 95 98 100 96 97 Rural 95 95 95 96 96 95 93 95 Remote 100 100 100 75 100 n/o n/o 96 All areas 97 97 95 95 97 99 96 97 Mar–08 Urban 98 97 97 98 98 96 95 98 Rural 98 98 98 97 97 99 90 98 Remote 50 100 88 100 92 100 100 89 All areas 98 97 97 98 98 97 94 98 Jun–08 Urban 95 96 93 91 97 93 92 95 Rural 95 98 94 92 95 99 80 95 Remote 88 90 100 100 85 100 100 89 All areas 95 97 93 91 96 96 89 95 Sep–08 Urban 85 81 82 75 65 75 79 80 Rural 92 86 88 83 75 100 100 87 Remote 100 100 100 100 44 n/o n/o 82 All areas 86 82 83 78 67 84 82 82 Dec–08 Urban 98 98 98 98 98 91 96 98 Rural 99 97 98 97 94 98 100 98 Remote 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 All areas 98 98 98 98 97 93 96 98 Mar–09 Urban 98 98 98 97 98 94 96 98 Rural 99 96 97 97 96 97 100 97 Remote 100 100 100 100 100 100 50 96 All areas 98 97 98 97 97 95 96 98 Jun–09 Urban 98 96 98 95 98 93 94 97 Rural 97 96 97 98 96 96 100 97 Remote 100 71 100 100 100 n/o 100 91 All areas 98 96 98 96 97 94 95 97

80 | acma Table D.8: AAPT – CSG compensation payments Number of payments Total paid Average $ per payment 2003–04 2,701 $87,009 $32.21 2004–05 4,162 $128,188 $30.80 2005–06 5,436 $205,807 $37.86 2006–07 5,065 $378,649 $74.76 2007–08 6,886 $488,834 $70.99 2008–09 7,951 $941,441 $118.41

acma | 81 Appendix E – Priority assistance data tables

Table E.1: Number of priority assistance customers by service provider, quarterly Telstra Primus AAPT Sep–05 161,266 2,307 1,299 Dec–05 162,496 2,271 1,418 Mar–06 170,128 2,305 1,935 Jun–06 169,877 2,120 989 Sep–06 166,775 2,116 995 Dec–06 166,997 2,024 1,844 Mar–07 179,550 1,952 2,393 Jun–07 188,802 2,026 3,104 Sep–07 n/p 1,828 3,656 Dec–07 n/p 1,966 4,094 Mar–08 n/p 1,796 4,583 Jun–08 163,292 1,690 4,834 Sep–08 n/p 2231 5208 Dec–08 n/p 2231 5428 Mar–09 n/p 1472 1596 Jun–09 195,173 1515 1901 n/p: not provided

Table E.2: Telstra – Priority assistance connections, quarterly Total Connections Urban Rural Remote All areas Sep–05 12,767 4,431 149 17,347 Dec–05 14,635 5,290 144 20,069 Mar–06 15,007 5,456 159 20,622 Jun–06 14,811 5,214 147 20,172 Sep–06 14,617 5,087 161 19,865 Dec–06 13,905 5,036 181 19,122 Mar–07 13,521 4,911 143 18,575 Jun–07 13,639 4,967 156 18,762 Sep–07 13,729 5,143 150 19,022 Dec–07 13,318 5,193 129 18,640 Mar–08 13,393 5,140 133 18,666 Jun–08 12,880 5,027 125 18,032 Sep–08 10,025 3,851 113 13,989 Dec–08 9,542 3,505 84 13,131 Mar–09 8,881 3,212 99 12,192 Jun–09 9,144 3,395 120 12,659

82 | acma Table E.2: Telstra – Priority assistance connections, quarterly (continued) Connected within CSG Timeframes (%) Urban Rural Remote All areas Sep–05 98.8 95.9 95.3 96.5 Dec–05 95.8 93.3 90.3 95.1 Mar–06 95.1 92.7 86.2 94.4 Jun–06 94.8 92.0 85.0 94.0 Sep–06 94.4 93.1 89.4 94.0 Dec–06 94.1 92.2 91.2 93.6 Mar–07 93.9 91.5 90.9 93.2 Jun–07 92.1 90 91.0 91.5 Sep–07 93.3 92.4 90.7 93.0 Dec–07 92.5 92.1 86.0 92.4 Mar–08 91.3 89.3 81.2 90.7 Jun–08 88.5 86.2 80.8 87.8 Sep–08 86.7 85.8 85.8 86.5 Dec–08 85.3 85.1 88.1 85.3 Mar–09 88.1 88.4 82.8 88.1 Jun–09 91.7 91.4 84.2 91.5

Table E.3: Telstra – Priority assistance fault repairs, quarterly Number of PA fault repair requests Urban Rural Remote All areas Sep–05 24,004 10,643 209 34,856 Dec–05 26,682 13,549 258 40,489 Mar–06 27,732 13,137 285 41,154 Jun–06 23,015 10,004 224 33,243 Sep–06 21,996 9,177 157 31,330 Dec–06 15,132 7,591 151 22,874 Mar–07 16,996 8,949 215 26,160 Jun–07 17,112 7,809 161 25,082 Sep–07 15,711 7,084 148 22,943 Dec–07 18,345 9,386 213 27,944 Mar–08 24,933 10,894 249 36,076 Jun–08 22,413 9,208 174 31,795 Sep–08 18,032 7,618 111 25,761 Dec–08 19,490 8,533 143 28,166 Mar–09 21,280 9,849 189 31,318 Jun–09 21,631 9,110 172 30,913

acma | 83 Table E.3: Telstra – Priority assistance fault repairs, quarterly (continued) Per cent repaired within PA timeframes Urban Rural Remote All areas Sep–05 96.3 93.3 91.4 95.4 Dec–05 95.3 90.7 91.1 93.7 Mar–06 95.1 91.7 90.5 94.0 Jun–06 95.8 91.7 86.2 94.2 Sep–06 94.4 91.7 92.4 93.6 Dec–06 93.3 89.9 90.1 92.2 Mar–07 93.8 90.2 83.3 92.5 Jun–07 93.9 91.9 87.6 93.2 Sep–07 93.5 91.2 91.9 92.8 Dec–07 92.2 88.9 86.4 91.0 Mar–08 88.8 83.4 74.7 87.1 Jun–08 91.4 87.3 81 90.1 Sep–08 93.4 91.1 87.5 92.7 Dec–08 93.9 90.6 82 92.8 Mar–09 94.3 90.5 83.4 93 Jun–09 93.2 89.1 83 92

84 | acma Table E.4: AAPT – Priority assistance connections, quarterly Number of connections requests Urban Rural Remote All areas Mar–05 51 28 n/o 79 Jun–05 29 23 n/o 52 Sep–05 27 8 n/o 35 Dec–05 66 30 n/o 96 Mar–06 58 32 n/o 90 Jun–06 33 19 n/o 52 Sep–06 39 21 n/o 60 Dec–06 41 13 1 55 Mar–07 51 21 4 76 Jun–07 50 24 7 81 Sep–07 63 21 4 88 Dec–07 72 24 3 99 Mar–08 97 36 0 133 Jun–08 85 32 0 117 Sep–08 72 29 1 102 Dec–08 32 14 1 47 Mar–09 45 15 0 60 Jun–09 48 12 0 60 per cent provided within timeframes Mar–05 79.0 14.0 n/o 55.7 Jun–05 66.0 78.0 n/o 71.2 Sep–05 70.0 88.0 n/o 74.3 Dec–05 76.0 77.0 n/o 76.0 Mar–06 77.0 77.0 n/o 77.0 Jun–06 76.0 79.0 n/o 77.0 Sep–06 77.0 81.0 n/o 78.4 Dec–06 83.0 82.0 100.0 83.1 Mar–07 86.0 81.0 75.0 84.0 Jun–07 88.0 84.0 79.0 86.0 Sep–07 90.0 86.0 75.0 88.4 Dec–07 84.0 81.0 66.0 82.7 Mar–08 84.0 81.0 66.0 83.2 Jun–08 92.0 87.0 100.0 90.6 Sep–08 94.0 90.0 100 93.0 Dec–08 93.0 92.0 100 93.0 Mar–09 96.0 93.0 n/a 95.0 Jun–09 94.0 92.0 n/a 93.0

acma | 85 Table E.5: AAPT – Priority assistance fault repairs, quarterly Number of fault repair requests Urban Rural Remote All areas Mar–05 398 272 n/o 670 Jun–05 435 259 1 695 Sep–05 184 115 1 300 Dec–05 461 274 2 737 Mar–06 779 435 4 1,218 Jun–06 379 194 3 576 Sep–06 382 198 1 581 Dec–06 268 126 1 395 Mar–07 74 21 8 103 Jun–07 66 17 6 89 Sep–07 43 12 3 58 Dec–07 34 14 3 51 Mar–08 192 61 2 255 Jun–08 234 72 1 307 Sep–08 150 38 15 203 Dec–08 124 28 11 163 Mar–09 180 80 0 260 Jun–09 193 52 0 245 Per cent repaired within timeframes Mar–05 84.0 78.0 n/o 81.5 Jun–05 88.0 85.0 100.0 86.9 Sep–05 83.0 71.0 100.0 78.3 Dec–05 83.0 72.0 100.0 79.0 Mar–06 81.0 73.0 75.0 78.0 Jun–06 78.0 71.0 100.0 76.0 Sep–06 80.0 72.0 100.0 77.3 Dec–06 81.0 75.0 100.0 79.1 Mar–07 84.0 76.0 75.0 81.7 Jun–07 87.0 80.0 78.0 85.1 Sep–07 91.0 83.0 66.0 88.1 Dec–07 91.0 85.0 66.0 87.9 Mar–08 91.0 85.0 66.0 89.4 Jun–08 88.0 87.0 100.0 87.8 Sep–08 92.0 92.0 80.0 91.0 Dec–08 94.0 92.0 89.0 93.0 Mar–09 99.0 98.0 n/o 99.0 Jun–09 98.0 94.0 n/o 96.0 n/o = no orders

86 | acma Appendix F – Payphone data tables

Table F.1: Public payphone and payphone site numbers 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Telstra operated 31,323 30,091 25,313 22,177 20,683 Non-Telstra operated 30,412 28,139 24,549 22,937 18,645 Total public payphones 61,735 58,230 49,862 45,114 39,328 Number of payphone sites 23,495 22,853 19,484 17,904 16,838

Table F.2: Telstra – Number of Telstra-operated payphones Urban Rural Remote All areas 2004–05 National 21,958 8,057 1,308 31,323 2005–06 National 20,708 8,091 1,292 30,091 2006–07 NSW 5,795 1,917 19 7,731 ACT 267 25 n/a 292 VIC 3,259 1,267 5 4,531 QLD 4,056 1,539 219 5,814 SA 1,264 509 9 1,782 WA 1,686 841 452 2,979 TAS 430 406 n/a 836 NT 494 340 514 1,348 National 17,251 6,844 1,218 25,313 2007–08 NSW 5,010 1,687 19 6,716 ACT 217 5 n/a 222 VIC 2,935 1,128 5 4,068 QLD 3,646 1,380 201 5,227 SA 1,108 453 8 1,569 WA 1,149 641 343 2,433 TAS 366 373 n/a 739 NT 426 298 479 1,203 National 15,157 5,965 1,055 22,177 2008–09 NSW 4,655 1,573 18 6,246 ACT 156 2 n/a 158 VIC 2,640 1,099 5 3,744 QLD 3,419 1,326 188 4,933 SA 1,038 450 8 1,496 WA 1,324 588 321 2,233 TAS 358 371 0 729 NT 376 297 471 1,144 National 13,966 5,706 1,011 20,683 n/a = not applicable

Table F.3: Number of TTY payphones 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 235 244 221 201 176

acma | 87 Table F.4: Number of calls made from public payphones Type of payphone: 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Telstra operated 226,893,323 178,896,702 166,269,617 133,072,239 113,947,041 Non-Telstra operated 42,768,185 41,776,428 26,701,247 19,963,924 16,108,417 All payphones 269,661,508 220,673,130 192,970,864 153,036,163 130,055,458

Table F.5: Number of emergency calls made from public payphones 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 Number of 000 calls 526,521 555,624 540,120 484,266 Number of payphones 61,735 58,230 49,862 45,114 Average calls per payphone 9 10 11 11

Table F.6: Telstra – Percentage of payphone faults repaired within timeframes, quarterly Urban – 1 Rural – 2 Remote – 3 working day working days working days Sep–05 90 83 70 Dec–05 92 83 74 Mar–06 92 85 73 Jun–06 93 85 69 Sep–06 91 87 71 Dec–06 90 86 72 Mar–07 89 84 66 Jun–07 90 87 72 Sep–07 92 88 71 Dec–07 96 89 66 Mar–08 88 80 57 Jun–08 94 85 59 Sep–08 94 89 66 Dec–08 93 87 68 Mar–09 91 82 59 Jun–09 92 85 71

Table F.7: Telstra – Average business hours to clear payphone faults, quarterly NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA/NT WA TAS National Sep–05 14 11 17 20 16 16 15 Dec–05 13 12 13 19 15 20 14 Mar–06 14 14 15 19 19 21 15 Jun–06 13 13 15 19 17 18 15 Sep–06 12 9 13 17 15 13 13 Dec–06 12 11 13 17 18 12 13 Mar–07 13 12 17 21 22 14 16 Jun–07 15 15 18 23 25 16 18 Sep–07 15 20 20 22 24 16 19 Dec–07 16 13 19 23 24 17 18 Mar–08 19 14 26 27 27 20 22 Jun–08 13 12 18 23 25 16 17 Sep–08 8 7 12 13 15 10 10 Dec–08 8 7 11 12 12 8 9 Mar–09 9 8 15 14 16 10 11 Jun–09 8 8 12 13 13 10 10

Table F.8: Telstra – Percentage downtime* for Telstra payphones, quarterly

88 | acma NSW/ACT VIC QLD SA/NT WA TAS National Sep–05 6 4 6 8 7 5 6 Dec–05 6 4 6 8 6 7 6 Mar–06 6 5 6 8 9 6 6 Jun–06 6 4 6 8 7 6 6 Sep–06 5 4 5 7 7 4 5 Dec–06 5 4 5 7 8 4 5 Mar–07 7 5 6 10 9 5 7 Jun–07 6 5 5 8 8 6 6 Sep–07 5 6 5 8 8 4 6 Dec–07 6 5 6 9 8 5 7 Mar–08 9 6 10 10 10 5 9 Jun–08 6 6 6 9 11 5 7 Sep–08 4 4 6 8 8 4 6 Dec–08 5 4 7 7 7 4 6 Mar–09 5 5 8 8 9 5 7 Jun–09 4 4 6 7 7 6 5 * Downtime is the total amount of time payphones were under a service alarm (unavailable to make calls) averaged across all payphones

acma | 89 Appendix G – NRF data tables

Table G.1: Telstra – Average annual percentage of telephone services without faults (Level 1a) 2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–2009 Adelaide City & Technology 99.16 99.09 98.97 Adelaide Greater Metro 99.07 99.06 98.91 Brisbane City 98.88 98.67 98.21 Brisbane City & Technology 99.61 99.55 99.44 Brisbane Northern 99.04 98.83 98.36 Brisbane Southern 98.96 98.75 98.46 Central Australia 99.02 99.12 98.99 Melbourne Bayside 99.07 98.93 98.90 Melbourne Central 99.16 99.12 99.04 Melbourne City & Dedicated Services 99.56 99.60 99.58 Melbourne North 99.20 99.09 99.00 Melbourne Southern 99.04 98.92 98.90 Melbourne West 99.19 99.16 99.13 NSW Central Coast 98.70 98.67 98.70 NSW Greater Western 98.81 98.70 98.65 NSW Mid Coast 98.46 98.30 98.10 NSW New England 98.27 98.19 98.06 NSW Newcastle 98.64 98.63 98.54 NSW North Coast 98.72 98.39 98.22 NSW Riverina Murray 98.97 98.88 98.83 NSW South East 98.42 98.45 98.41 NT Top End 98.03 98.34 98.15 Perth North 99.27 99.19 99.05 Perth South 99.08 99.00 98.91 QLD Central 98.78 98.43 98.38 QLD Far North 98.65 98.50 98.10 QLD North 98.80 98.80 98.35 QLD South West 98.89 98.80 98.61 QLD Wide Bay 99.05 98.79 98.65 SA Country South 99.20 99.21 99.16 Sydney Canberra 99.14 99.15 99.15 Sydney Central 98.75 98.60 98.52 Sydney City & Technology 99.44 99.46 99.42 Sydney Eastern 99.00 98.95 98.86 Sydney North 99.01 98.97 98.83 Sydney Southern 98.88 98.75 98.75 Sydney West 98.67 98.57 98.50 Tasmania 99.12 99.11 98.97 VIC Central 98.89 98.89 98.85 VIC South East 98.75 98.60 98.51 VIC Western 99.08 99.00 98.88 WA Midlands 98.62 98.55 98.38 WA Northern 98.49 98.48 98.42 WA Southern 98.82 98.86 98.62

Table G.2: Telstra – Percentage of telephone services without faults (Level 1a)

90 | acma 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 July 99.22 99.03 99.05 98.91 98.78 August 99.14 99.07 99.07 98.97 98.89 September 99.17 99.03 99.08 99.12 98.87 October 99.09 98.96 99.12 99.04 98.89 November 99.01 98.78 98.98 98.86 98.79 December 98.92 98.8 99.06 98.96 98.66 January 99.05 98.76 98.88 98.75 98.73 February 98.82 98.72 98.73 98.61 98.46 March 99.04 98.79 98.75 98.78 98.59 April 99.07 99.04 99.01 98.65 98.55 May 99.11 98.94 98.82 98.83 98.75 June 99.11 99.05 98.82 98.77 98.64 Yearly average 99.06 98.91 98.95 98.85 98.72

Table G.3: Telstra – Average percentage of time that telephone services were available (Level 1b) 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008-09 July 99.95 99.94 99.94 99.92 99.91 August 99.95 99.94 99.94 99.93 99.92 September 99.95 99.94 99.94 99.94 99.93 October 99.94 99.94 99.94 99.93 99.93 November 99.93 99.92 99.93 99.92 99.92 December 99.92 99.91 99.94 99.91 99.90 January 99.93 99.91 99.91 99.87 99.91 February 99.91 99.91 99.91 99.85 99.89 March 99.93 99.92 99.91 99.87 99.90 April 99.94 99.93 99.93 99.87 99.90 May 99.94 99.93 99.92 99.89 99.92 June 99.94 99.94 99.91 99.90 99.91 Yearly average 99.94 99.93 99.93 99.90 99.91

Table G.4: Telstra – Average hours of downtime for telephone services with a fault (Level 1c) 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–009 July 44 49 47 54 53 August 45 47 47 50 51 September 47 45 47 49 48 October 50 46 48 51 47 November 53 51 48 53 47 December 55 53 50 66 54 January 53 55 57 79 53 February 59 50 55 81 55 March 53 50 54 77 54 April 50 53 52 71 52 May 48 49 49 72 48 June 50 50 54 59 52 Yearly average 51 50 51 63 51

acma | 91 Table G.5: Telstra – Average hours of downtime for fault affected services by field service area 2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–2009 3-year average QLD NORTH 59.1 89.9 82.3 77.1 QLD CENTRAL 62.6 94.4 71.5 76.1 WA MIDLANDS 73.6 67.0 85.5 75.4 WA NORTHERN 61.6 75.1 88.1 74.9 QLD FAR NORTH 61.6 86.7 69.6 72.7 NSW SOUTH EAST 68.4 87.0 56.5 70.6 VIC SOUTH EAST 60.0 76.8 73.5 70.1 QLD WIDE BAY 60.5 80.4 64.6 68.5 QLD SOUTH WEST 59.4 78.4 67.2 68.4 WA SOUTHERN 67.0 64.0 68.9 66.6 NT TOP END 60.5 77.8 58.0 65.4 NSW GREATER WESTERN 58.6 78.2 59.2 65.3 NSW MID COAST 61.6 73.6 54.8 63.3 SA COUNTRY SOUTH 57.3 65.4 65.2 62.6 NSW NEW ENGLAND 65.1 65.7 55.7 62.2 VIC CENTRAL 58.9 67.0 59.2 61.7 NSW RIVERINA MURRAY 50.4 68.1 65.8 61.4 NSW NORTH COAST 58.9 66.6 55.5 60.3 NSW CENTRAL COAST 57.8 67.5 42.0 55.7 PERTH SOUTH 52.2 63.0 51.5 55.6 ADELAIDE CITY & 49.8 58.4 57.8 55.3 TECHNOLOGY TASMANIA 49.9 61.5 54.4 55.3 VIC WESTERN 54.2 62.2 48.9 55.1 CENTRAL AUSTRALIA 48.0 58.4 58.4 54.9 NSW NEWCASTLE 53.9 66.6 43.7 54.7 PERTH NORTH 50.9 59.3 50.7 53.6 ADELAIDE GREATER METRO 50.3 56.5 52.3 53.0 MELBOURNE NORTH 45.6 62.5 49.6 52.6 SYDNEY CANBERRA 48.4 61.9 45.8 52.0 SYDNEY NORTH 45.8 61.3 44.8 50.7 MELBOURNE SOUTHERN 45.9 59.3 46.0 50.4 MELBOURNE WEST 44.4 60.0 45.1 49.9 BRISBANE NORTHERN 41.2 63.6 44.5 49.7 MELBOURNE CENTRAL 44.1 58.1 44.2 48.8 MELBOURNE BAYSIDE 44.4 55.2 41.8 47.1 SYDNEY WEST 46.7 53.6 40.2 46.9 BRISBANE SOUTHERN 38.6 57.4 43.3 46.5 SYDNEY SOUTHERN 44.6 56.0 37.3 46.0 BRISBANE CITY 38.5 57.5 41.1 45.7 SYDNEY CENTRAL 43.9 53.7 37.7 45.1 SYDNEY EASTERN 42.2 52.3 39.1 44.5 BRISBANE CITY & 36.8 51.6 41.0 43.2 TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY CITY & TECHNOLOGY 34.0 46.4 35.2 38.5

92 | acma MELBOURNE CITY & 29.2 42.6 28.2 33.4 DEDICATED SERVICES The table is sorted from worst to best FSA based on the 3-year average.

Table G.6: Telstra – Number of telephone services with four or more faults in a 60-day period (Level 3a) 2006–07 2007–08 2008-09 July n/a 21 30 August n/a 22 34 September n/a 14 49 October 33 20 26 November 27 13 40 December 36 21 35 January 41 29 51 February 37 29 55 March 70 33 79 April 27 25 63 May 28 33 74 June 23 28 58 Total n/a 288 594 Due to changes in reporting arrangements, data prior to October 2006 is not directly comparable for Levels 3a and 3b and therefore is not shown.

Table G.7: Telstra – Number of telephone services with five or more faults in 365-day period (Level 3b) 2006–07 2007–08 2008-09 July n/a 85 110 August n/a 62 81 September n/a 54 110 October 90 67 132 November 91 74 137 December 71 77 127 January 89 76 148 February 89 85 156 March 116 107 162 April 52 122 162 May 68 115 194 June 71 125 205 Total n/a 1,049 1724 Due to changes in reporting arrangements, data prior to October 2006 is not directly comparable for Levels 3a and 3b and therefore is not shown.

acma | 93 Appendix H – Website addresses for further information

The website addresses below are current as at January 2010.

The ACMA’s CSG fact sheet: http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_1712

CSG Standard: http://www.acma.gov.au/webwr/consumer_info/csg/csg_consolidatedstd_06.pdf

The ACMA’s priority assistance fact: http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_1724

Priority assistance main page on the ACMA website: http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_2038

Payphone main page on the ACMA website: http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_310015

NRF main page on the ACMA website: http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_2048

Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/ActCompilation1.nsf/all/search/2C1FD 3871B6122E9CA257364000C77F9

94 | acma Appendix I – Abbreviations

The ACMA the Australian Communications and Media Authority ACT Australian Capital Territory CSG Customer Service Guarantee ESA Exchange service area (a Telstra network area) FSA Field service area (a Telstra network area) NRF Network Reliability Framework NSW New South Wales NT Northern Territory QLD Queensland SA South Australia SIO Service in operation STS Standard telephone service TAS Tasmania TTY Telephone typewriter (also known as a text telephone) ULL Unconditioned local loop VIC Victoria WA Western Australia USO universal service obligation

acma | 95 Glossary

ACCC Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Commonwealth regulatory body with responsibilities under the Trade Practices Act 1974. The ACMA the Australian Communications and Media Authority Commonwealth regulatory authority for broadcasting, online content, radiocommunications and telecommunications, with responsibilities under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, the Radiocommunications Act 1992, the Telecommunications Act 1997 and related Acts. Established on 1 July 2005 following a merger of the Australian Communications Authority and the Australian Broadcasting Authority. carriage service A service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy. carrier The holder of a telecommunications carrier licence in force under the Telecommunications Act 1997. Communication Industry organisation formed on 1 September 2006 from the merger of the s Alliance Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) and the Service Providers Association (SPAN). CSG Customer Service Guarantee Standard providing for financial compensation to customers where requirements set out in the standard are not met. CSP carriage service provider Person supplying or proposing to supply certain carriage services, including a commercial entity acquiring telecommunications capacity or services from a carrier for resale to a third party. Internet and pay TV service providers fall within the definition of carriage service providers under the Telecommunications Act 1997. DSL digital subscriber line Transmission technique that dramatically increases the digital capacity of telephone lines into the home or office. Also ADSL, HDSL, xDSL. ESA exchange service area One of approximately 5,000 areas serviced by exchanges in Telstra's fixed telephone network. exchange Network node where various numbers and types of communication lines are switched by the telecommunications network operator. Exchanges operate at local, long distance and international levels, and all subscribers are connected to their local exchange. FSA field service area One of 44 broad geographic regions in Telstra’s fixed telephone network. ISP internet service provider CSP offering internet access to the public or another service provider. the Minister Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Minister responsible for the ACMA and its governing legislation, and the legislation that the ACMA administers. NRF Network Reliability Framework Requirement on Telstra from January 2003 to provide regular reports to the ACA (now ACMA) on the reliability of its fixed line services, and to remediate the network in areas with particularly poor performance.

96 | acma NRS National Relay Service Service that provides access to the standard telephone service for people with hearing or speech impairment through the relay of voice, modem or TTY communications. Operates as a translation service between voice and non- voice users of the standard telephone service. Currently provided by Australian Communication Exchange. payphone A public telephone where calls may be paid for with coins, phone cards, credit cards or reverse charge facilities. pre-paid A contract system by which users pay an amount up-front to purchase a certain amount of usage or credit. priority Service for people with a diagnosed life-threatening medical condition entitling assistance them to faster connection and fault repair of their fixed-line telephone service. SIO services in operation Refers to the number of services provided by a telephone company at a particular time. The term is used in the context of both fixed line services and mobile services. SMP standard marketing plan Approved plan by the universal service provider of how it will meet the USO. STS standard telephone service The telecommunications service defined as a carriage service providing voice telephony or an equivalent service that meets the requirements of the TCPSS Act and the DDA. Take-up Adoption of a service or product by users. TTY Teletypewriter Telephone typewriter where communication is typed after the call is connected, allowing people with a hearing or speech impairment to use telecommunications. Calls can be connected to another TTY user or relayed and translated by the NRS. Universal A carrier or carriage service provider responsible for providing the universal service service obligation for an area and is specifically defined under the provider Telecommunications (Consumer Protections and Service Standards) Act 1999. USO universal service obligation Obligation under the Telecommunications Act 1997 to ensure standard telephone services, payphones and prescribed carriage services are reasonably accessible to all people in Australia on an equitable basis, wherever they reside or carry on business. VoIP voice over internet protocol A protocol for transmitting voice over packet-switched data networks. Also called IP telephony.

acma | 97