On Monday 21 June, the ACCC (Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission) put out a news release titled “Australian consumers now paying more for mobile plans,” which iTWire covered here.

This prompted a response from Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton, who is a strong and vocal consumer advocate in the telco space in Australia and the US.

Adderton notes some interesting quotes from the ACCC’s release, which come from ACCC Chair Rod Sims, and these included:

• "“When markets end up with a smaller group of large look-alike players with stable positions, competition is muted and consumers pay more.”
• "The ACCC opposed the merger of TPG and Vodafone because we were concerned it would lead to higher mobile prices, and result in three similar providers with little incentive to compete strongly,” 
• "Our analysis shows that consumers will now be left paying significantly more for a range of mobile phone plans at Telstra, Optus and Vodafone,” 

So, what did Adderton have to say?

Adderton said: “The ACCC has let consumers down on the TPG-Vodafone merger, they had the opportunity to support competition in other ways, but instead let it slide. But it's not too late to fix it.

“I met with the ACCC in 2018 and begged them to look at the wholesale market, and to advocate for regulations to make sure smaller providers were protected. This would have, in turn, protected competition in the market. The ACCC was solely focused on objecting to the Vodafone-TPG merger as its Plan A. They had no Plan B.  I always said they were not going to be able to block it, and they should have instead taken the opportunity to make sure that the merger went through with protections.

“The big telcos have an obligation to look after their shareholders, and you cannot fault them for that. It is the ACCC that should have worked with TPG and Vodafone to make sure that MVNOs had a place in their new combined network on favourable terms, just as the Department of Justice did in the US when it ensured that Dish had a very favourable wholesale deal in the Sprint-T-Mobile merger. MVNOs have benefits for carriers as well, but they need protections to make sure they are able to negotiate good deals.

“I’ve always said that Australia cannot support a fourth network, but we can support a healthy wholesale market. And it is through MVNOs, wholesalers and private brands that competition can be fostered.

“There is a long history of MVNOs driving value for consumers, yet the ACCC didn’t give this part of the market the respect it deserved in terms of the role it plays in delivering choice, value and competition.

“The reason prices have increased or will increase is because the ACCC didn’t protect the wholesale market as MVNOs like we called for. They have let consumers down on this, need to take some responsibility and do something about it. I’m willing to work with the ACCC to help guide them on that, the same offer I made when we met years ago. It’s not too late.

“Boost Mobile is always fighting for consumers, to deliver the best price and more choices. But right now I feel like I’m spending more time fighting for consumers in the telco space than the ACCC is,” Adderton concluded.

So, Rod Sims… your move. Back in 2018, the ACCC was heralding the price drops competition was bringing. Will the ACCC stand by and let telcos take the mickey, or does Australia’s tiger-like competition tsar have some teeth after all?

It seems the ACCC is visiting the dentist. We’ll just have to wait and see, but for now, those fearsome looking teeth are probably just dentures.