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Telstra Corporation Limited v The Commonwealth was an important case decided in the High Court of Australia on 6 March 2008. It concerned a dispute between Telstra Corporation Ltd and the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and eleven other ISPs regarding the ownership of and shared access obligations to the Telstra controlled unconditional local loop (ULL) copper telecommunications network. The case determined that although Telstra owned and maintained this network, its ownership over these assets were always subject to a statutory access regime permitting other carriers rightful access these assets.〔(ACCC Media Release 6 March 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2009 ) The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.〕 It is an important case in Australia constitutional law in that it explored the interpretation of the nature of property and acquisition. More importantly, the ruling had a resounding effect on competition and consumer protection within the Australian telecommunications industry by upholding the right to fair competition of competing carriers, thus preventing a monopoly control of Internet and telephony services by Telstra. == Background to the case == From the 1880s Australia had developed an extensive public switched telephone network (PSTN), copper infrastructure which is widely dispersed throughout the country and immediately evident in most business and residential premises as the standard telephone network.〔(Telstra Corporation Limited v The Commonwealth 2008 ) Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 5 September 2009.〕 This infrastructure is distributed nationwide by telephone exchanges, from which it locally extends into customer premises. The physical copper connection between the customer premises and the telephone exchange is known as a "local loop". There are about 10.1 million local loops and about 5,120 local exchanges.〔(Media Release 6 March 2008 ) Public Information Office. High Court of Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2009.〕 Local loops can carry services in two ways, unconditioned and shared. Unconditioned local loop services (ULLS) are "unconditioned" in that the electrical properties of the loop are not altered by any physically connected equipment. Local sharing services (LSS) are unconditioned local loops where one carrier uses the lower frequencies range of the line, known as the "voiceband" used in regular telephony, whilst that same carrier or another uses the higher frequency range of that same line for high speed services such as ADSL internet.〔 Prior to Federation, the PSTN infrastructure that then existed was owned and maintained by the colonial governments. The Constitution provided for the transfer of the network to the Commonwealth of Australia, who operated the network through the Postmaster-General’s Department.〔 In July 1976, the assets constituting the PSTN were transferred to a body then called the Australian Telecommunications Commission, later changed to the Australian Telecommunications Corporation, created under the Telecommunications Act 1975 and began trading as a monopoly under the name Telecom Australia.〔 In a Parliamentary move to invite competition, Telstra Corporation Limited, then known as the Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation, was incorporated under the Corporations Law of ACT in November 1991, as a company limited by shares, the sole shareholder being the Australian Commonwealth.〔 The PSTN was then vested in Telstra, as of 1 February 1992, in accordance with the Telecommunications Act 1991 of which one of the stated objects is "creating a regulatory environment for the supply of telecommunications services which promotes competition and fair and efficient market conduct".〔 Once privatised, Telstra operation became subject to the Trade Practices Act 1974 which requires that competitors be given access to the PSTN and related services, and empowered The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to make determinations about the terms and conditions of access obligations and the pricing principles applicable to services relating to the PSTN, and in this case ULLS and LSS. It was this enforced pricing model that Telstra rejected, claiming they are forced to provide wholesale access to competitors at below cost price, which they believed amounted to an acquisition of property other than on just terms contrary to Section 51(xxxi) of the Constitution. Thus, Telstra began proceedings in the High Court of Australia against the Commonwealth, the ACCC, and eleven of its competitors, seeking adequate compensation and the ability to charge its competitors more for access. The eleven competitors involved were internet service providers Primus Telecommunications, Optus Networks, Chime Communications, XYZED, Powertel Limited, Request Broadband, NEC Australia, Macquarie Telecom, AMCOM, Adam Internet, and Agile.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Telstra Corporation Ltd v Commonwealth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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