Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Telecommunications Universal Service Obligation

The Universal Service Obligation is a vital aspect of provision of telecommunications and the principal of universal service currently is to ensure that all people, wherever they reside or carry on business, should have reasonable access, on an equitable basis, to standard telephone services and payphones. The rationale for universal service has not changed and it is just as important now as it was at its inception. Changes to technology, service provision and the telecommunications market justify a review of how universal service is delivered, what it delivers and if there is an opportunity to constitute an improved outcome. Telecommunications is an essential service that underpins the need for everyone to have reasonable access, on an equitable basis, to specified digital services, including egovernment services. This submission argues that there should be a transition from the universal service regime to a universal access regime that enshrines the principle of ensuring that federal, state and local egovernment and other specified digital services are reasonably accessible to all, on an equitable basis, wherever they work or liv