universal service obligation (USO) - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Telstra revamps payphone prices, enables inbound calls

  Telstra has unveiled new prices for payphone calls, offering a flat rate for calls to landlines and cutting the cost of calling Australian mobile phone numbers.

• Government’s USO plan a ‘massive missed opportunity’, says Vodafone

  The government’s planned successor to the Universal Service Obligation (USO) is “a massive missed opportunity” that will allow Telstra “to continue to line its own pockets at the expense of Regional Australia and taxpayers,” according to a Vodafone executive.

• Government to can landline subsidy scheme

  The federal government has acknowledged that the Universal Service Obligation (USO) scheme, which guarantees all Australians have access to standard landline telephone services and payphones, is “increasingly outdated”.

• Maybe a 20-year government contract for landlines and payphones was a bad idea, audit suggests

  A decades-long contract signed with Telstra to deliver standard ​telephone services and maintain payphones does not reflect value for money principles, according to an Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report released today.

• Vodafone, CCC call for end to ‘black hole’ of USO

  Vodafone and the Competitive Carriers’ Coalition have repeated their calls for the Telecommunications Universal Service Obligation scheme to be scrapped in the wake of yesterday’s report on the USO by the Productivity Commission.

• Time to dump ‘anachronistic and costly’ subsidy for Telstra: Productivity Commission

  The Telecommunications Universal Service Obligation (TUSO or USO) is “anachronistic and costly” and should be wound up by 2020, the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the scheme has concluded.

• NBN worried about the cost of USO changes

  NBN has reiterated its concerns about the potential costs involved in any changes to Australia’s telecommunications Universal Service Obligation (USO or TUSO) scheme that could leave the network operator ­responsible for delivering voice services in remote areas.

• Time to ditch the USO, Productivity Commission says

  The current Universal Service Obligation under which Telstra receives a subsidy to ensure every Australian has access to basic telephony services is “anachronistic and needs to change,” argues a draft report released by the Productivity Commission.

• Telstra calls for USO to be retained — for now

  Telstra believes that given changes in communications technology employed by Australians the Universal Service Obligation (USO) should be updated; however the USO itself should be kept, at least until the rollout of the National Broadband Network is completed.

• Productivity Commission seeks input on regional telecoms subsidy

  The Productivity Commission (PC) has begun seeking input on the future of the Universal Service Obligation (USO): A subsidy intended to ensure that Australians in remote areas have access to a basic landline telephone service (a Standard Telephone Service, or STS) and payphones.

• Vodafone calls for boost to mobile blackspot funding

  Vodafone has called for an increase to the funding being made available through the federal government’s mobile blackspot program.

• Vodafone to launch Voice over WiFi ‘shortly’, CEO says

  Vodafone is preparing to offer Voice over Wi-FI – VoWIFI – to its customers “shortly”, the telco’s CEO, Iñaki Berroeta, yesterday told the CommsDay Summit in Sydney.

• Vodafone sees ‘growing momentum’ for USO overhaul

  Vodafone has lauded a recommendation contained in the newly released Australian Infrastructure Plan that advocates the government look at alternatives to the existing Universal Service Obligation (USO) arrangements.

• Infrastructure Australia plan backs NBN split up, USO reform

  The Australian Infrastructure Plan endorses the eventual break up of NBN into separate business units as part of the process of privatising it.

• Vodafone CEO laments ‘missed opportunity’ to boost regional telco competition

  Vodafone’s chief executive, Iñaki Berroeta, has described the USO scheme, under which Telstra is subsidised to guarantee access to basic telecommunications in regional areas over the copper network, as “hugely inefficient” and “obsolete”.