Telstra and Hutchison being investigated for 3G deal in Australia (reg required)

A proposed AU$900 million deal between Hutchison and Telstra to share 3G networks is being investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The suspicion is that the two companies will be unwilling to allow third parties to use their network, a problem compounded by a similar deal with the nations two other telcos – Optus and Vodafone. This has the potential to result in an effective duopoly in the 3G market, which the ACCC is keen to avoid. The Commission is focusing on the Telstra/Hutchison deal because it seems to be more than just sharing networks – the two companies have created a partnership to which profits will flow, and any wholesale decisions will have to be made jointly. In contrast, Vodafone and Optus have arranged what appears to be a simple network-sharing deal. In any case, in the past Vodafone Australia has been gung-ho to wholesale its network to anyone interested in buying it, and Optus is the network provider to Virgin Mobile. Which brings up another question: Hutchison had a roaming agreement with Vodafone, where the 3G users could use Vodafone’s 2G network when there was no 3G coverage. I’ve been unable to find out if that agreement is still in effect.

Meanwhile, in Finnland, Suomen 3G has received a warning from the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications to meet its requirement to cover 35% of the Finnish population by Jan 7 next year or risk losing its license.

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