[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] C7 Pty Limited has lodged a complaint
with ACCC, reporting an access dispute with Telstra Multimedia and Foxtel over access to Telstra’s cable
network to provide pay television services.
The Federal Court recently upheld the ACCC’s decision to make the carriage
of pay TV services over the Telstra cable network a declared service
following a legal challenge to that decision from Foxtel and Telstra.
Declaration means that access seekers, such as C7, can notify a dispute to
the ACCC over the ability to gain access and the terms and conditions under
which access is given. The ACCC can then arbitrate access negotiations.
C7 told the ACCC that it has attempted to negotiate access to the declared
pay TV carriage service with the network owners both before and after the
Federal Court decision. The ACCC compared the dispute with its current
arbitration of the Television and Radio Broadcasting Services (TARBS) case,
where TARBS is also seeking access to the Telstra cable network.
The ACCC has begun the arbitration process, but said “given that the
legislation contemplates that arbitrations be conducted in private, [it]
will not be making any further public comments at this stage.”