Competitive carriers claim Telstra Wholesale is squeezing them out of the market

Competitive carriers, including TPG, iiNet, Internode, Adam and TransACT, have accused Telstra Wholesale of using anti-competitive pricing tactics in their submissions to an ACCC inquiry.

According to ZDNet, the carriers claim that Telstra Wholesale have increased wholesale ADSL prices, ahead of the NBN rollout, in order to squeeze them out of the market.

In one submission, TPG claims that between April and September 2010 (when Telstra Wholesale increased prices), the churn rate from TPG to Telstra’s retail arm increased from 35.04% to 72.55%.

In major metropolitan areas, the competitive carriers serve ADSL broadband customers from their own DSLAM equipment.

However, because of technical limitations in some suburbs and regional areas (such as pair gains or RIM cabinets), competitive carriers are unable to serve customers directly through their own DSLAMs. These customers are served through resold Telstra Wholesale services, where the price increases have taken place.