'Puts investment in jeopardy': Telstra takes its fight with the regulator to Canberra
Telecommunications companies are on high alert about unexpectedly high costs being proposed for spectrum. They're warning Jim Chalmers that productivity gains and cost of living pressures are on the line.
The nation's most significant telecommunications provider, $55 billion behemoth Telstra, has warned the federal government it must intervene with the telco regulator's pricing plans or risk undermining productivity and curtailing investment.
In a rare step for the ASX-listed telco, Telstra made a pre-budget submission to Treasury late last week protesting the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)’s proposed spectrum licensing fees. This plan could see Telstra slugged with billions of dollars in extra costs.
In the three-page submission, seen by Capital Brief, Telstra stresses the proposal is "flawed", warns the fees risk stifling network upgrades and "puts ongoing investment in jeopardy". It ties the fees directly to the cost of living crisis, saying price pressure on Australians could be "increased" due to the need to pass along "unreasonable and unexpected costs" to customers.
And it warns additional expenses “cannot be absorbed without creating difficult trade-offs”, which could also include cutting staff.
