RTI Recommendations 5.1 and 5.3 Remote Indigenous communities
Recommendation 5.1 of the Regional Telecommunications Inquiry states:
Telstra should place a high priority on the provision of payphones, or alternative community phone systems, in those remote Indigenous communities currently without access to telecommunications of any kind.
This recommendation has been implemented. The ACMA has included monitoring and reporting of payphone services in remote Indigenous communities into an integrated framework under Recommendation 7.2.
Further examination of regulatory options may be undertaken following the community phones projects and trials of alternative service delivery solutions undertaken by Telstra.
Recommendation 5.3 of the Regional Telecommunications Inquiry states:
There should be more effective data collection and monitoring of telecommunications needs and services in remote Indigenous communities. The Australian Communications Authority should take a leading role in this area.
This recommendation has been implemented. The ACMA developed and implemented a new monitoring and reporting framework for the 2004-05 financial year that includes the improved data collection provisions that capture specific information about telecommunications services in remote Indigenous communities. Public consultation on these arrangements was facilitated by an ACMA discussion paper, Data collection and monitoring of telecommunications needs and services in remote Indigenous communities.
Telstra, the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) and the ACMA have established a database to record data on Telstra's provision of telecommunications services to remote Indigenous communities.
The ACMA's monitoring and reporting framework developed under Recommendation 7.2 provides a dedicated focus on the performance and availability of services supplied to remote Indigenous communities and incorporates a case study approach to collect additional data about standard telephone services in remote Indigenous communities. The initial case study is reported in the ACMA's Telecommunications Performance Report 2004-05.
More information: Further case studies will be reported in the Communications Report 2005-06.
