The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), as expected, decided not to declare a wholesale domestic mobile roaming regime, a move which immediately drew sharp criticism from Vodafone Australia, the country’s third largest mobile operator.

Dan Lloyd, Vodafone’s CSO, said the ACCC’s final report is a bad decision for regional Australia.

In a statement he said: “Large parts of the country will continue to miss out on the mobile coverage and choice that it wants, needs and deserves. This decision rings alarm bells for regional communities. The inquiry has shone a spotlight on the alarming lack of competition and high prices for mobile in many areas, but the ACCC seems to think that this is ok.”

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said its inquiry found a declaration would likely not lead to lower prices or better coverage or quality of services for regional Australians.

The regulator, however, identified a range of regulatory and policy measures which could improve inadequate mobile phone coverage and poor quality of service in regional areas. The ACCC head acknowledged it heard from many consumers and businesses about how inadequate mobile coverage in regional areas affects the social and economic well-being of the communities.

“We will shortly commence a review of the facilities access code to identify barriers to co-location or infrastructure deployment,” Sims said: “Better transparency about network coverage and quality, more accountability about network investments and better information for regulatory and policy decision makers are all important.”

In May ACCC proposed not to declare a wholesale domestic mobile roaming regime, which would require operators to share their mobile networks with rivals. Sims said at the time it was unclear a declaration would improve the current state of competition overall. The regulator invited comments on the draft decision.

Status quo
Lloyd said: “Domestic roaming has been the answer in virtually every other large western economy and has successfully brought increased coverage and competition to countries including the US, Canada, New Zealand, Spain and France.”

He said the status quo clearly isn’t good enough for regional Australia: “If domestic roaming isn’t the answer, what is? While the ACCC refers to some alternative measures, such as more information on coverage and investment, these have already been in place for some time and have failed to deliver the coverage regional areas need.”

Lloyd noted the final decision is particularly disappointing given the federal court hasn’t handed down its ruling as to whether the ACCC inquiry was carried out properly and in line with the law: “Given that the federal court decision is imminent, it is curious that the ACCC has chosen to sidestep the court.”

Market leader Telstra and number two Optus welcomed the decision.