The recent ACCC ruling allowing TPG to take over iiNet has raised a lot of questions in the Australian broadband market place.
“While the ACCC was concerned that the acquisition of iiNet by TPG may lessen competition in the retail fixed broadband market, particularly in the short term, the ACCC concluded that this would not reach the threshold of a ‘substantial’ lessening of competition,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims told ABC News.
This merger means that the TPG will become the second largest Internet service provider in the country after Telstra. The ACCC’s claims that this will not see a lessening of competition remains to be seen, there will now only be four major players in the Australian market. The next step for the merger is a submission to court to ratify the deal and make it official.
If Telstra, M2 or Optus combined there would only be two other major broadband suppliers in the Australian market. Historically prices for data in Australia have never been cheaper. However with this new development that trend could reverse.
According to Newsmodo Sims talked about the ACCC’s plans to push for an internet performance monitoring system which acts like a comparison service of fixed broadband speeds versus cost.
This in practice sounds like a wise move, however with only four major players the pressure to compete is greatly reduced and only time will tell how this merger will affect the market place.
If you have any concerns about your broadband service please get in touch with any questions.
