Submission to ACCC interim cartel authorisation for NBN Co and Ors Special Working Group for the COVID-19 pandemic
Commpete supported the application by NBN Co and others for an initial authorisation of conduct by members of the SWG to coordinate an industry response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That interim authorisation has enabled the SWG to effectively facilitate an industry response to the swift shift in the network demand profile that followed as a result of the population quickly needing to deliver health, education and other businesses digitally and from homes to the greatest extent possible. However, our view is that the SWG has now substantially achieved its original purpose and that there is limited justification for the activities of the SWG or for any authorised conduct to continue. The SWG should now be dissolved and the interim authorisation can cease.
