ACCC to press ahead with NBN access rules

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is to continue working on the NBN special access undertaking (SAU), despite the recent change in government.

Chairman Rod Sims is expected to re-commit to the SAU process at an infrastructure symposium that begins in the NSW coastal city of Wollongong today.

The SAU process is in a state of procedural limbo until the ACCC formally instructs NBN Co to edit the text of the document to sate the concerns of both the regulator and access seekers.

The ACCC rejected the most recent draft text on April 4.

A formal direction to edit that version wasn't expected to be issued until at least this month, and even then the change of federal government — and NBN strategy — further shrouded the long-running process.

However, Sims' comments show the regulator is determined to see the SAU process through.

"The ACCC will soon issue its Notice to Vary to NBN which will describe in detail the changes we see that are needed to their SAU," Sims is to tell the symposium today, according to speech notes.

"Settling the SAU will provide access seekers the certainty they seek, even if the new Government's policies require consequential changes at a later stage."

The SAU sets out minimum terms and conditions for services supplied over the NBN.

Access seekers that currently service customers on the NBN use temporary terms and conditions negotiated about two years ago.