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Australia: ACCC, Telstra spar over price signaling laws

By  |  June 29, 2014

Australian telecommunications operator Telstra is reportedly fighting current laws that curb price signaling, but the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is pushing back.

According to reports, ACCC head Rod Sims calls Telstra’s fight against the rules “extremely unfortunate.”

Telstra filed a submission to the Harper Review on competition policy, calling for an end to all price signaling rules; that sentiment was backed up by the Australian Recording Industry Association and other groups. “There was a significant risk of regulatory overreach,” the telco argued.

But the ACCC is calling for an extension of the price signaling rules to reign in abuses of market dominance. ”When you’ve got laws that deal with monopolies – particularly vertically integrated monopolies as they are – that is not red tape. That facilitates competition and proper market behavior,” Sims said in defense of the rules.

Full content: Australian Financial Review

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