CommsDay Story of the Week

This week's story is from today's issue (Friday 23 January) about the newly released OECD report recommending reservation of spectrum and encouragement for a fourth mobile network operator (MNO) in Australia, on the basis that competition between the established incumbents (Telstra, Optus and TPG) has waned.  Perhaps it is a bit cynical to suggest that OECD reports, like those of the Productivity Commission and the World Bank, are predictable in promoting more and more competition. It is certainly not at all clear where the investment required would come from.  The outlook for MNOs is clouded by profitability issues, and by returns that are more in line with connectivity utilities.  The OECD report seems not to rely on MVNOs to provide deep and abiding competition. That is a separate concern.  Many are home-brands which, from a competition point of view, are little more than segment maximisers through brand differentiation.

Australia needs a fourth MNO: OECD

A new OECD report has called for efforts to encourage a fourth mobile network opera- tor to enter the Australian market, pushing for spectrum to potentially be reserved for new entrants as well as the possibility of mandated infrastructure sharing.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority “could consider reserving capacity explicitly for new entrants, allowing for competition benefits, balanced with other policy objectives, with enforceable rollout obligation,” it said.

Wholesale access rules should be strengthened to “ensure new entrants achieve scale quickly,” it added. It noted that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission “has examined this approach in the past but determined that such intervention would have a negative impact on infrastructure deployment, particularly in high cost, low population density areas."

It also suggested that government subsidies supporting regional coverage could be linked to “pro-competitive outcomes rather than reinforcing incumbent market power.”

“Competition has waned across the Australian economy over the past two decades,” the OECD Economic Survey of Australia said. “Business and employment dynamism have declined, while market concentration has risen.” IT said that although the government’s Competition Review has “taken promising steps to address these issues,” more needs to be done.

The report cited telecommunications and digital platforms, along with the domestic aviation, banking, supermarket and automobiles, as examples of key sectors of the economy that are highly concentrated and where removal of barriers to new entrants should be seen as a priority.

“Australia’s mobile telecommunications sector is dominated by three firms, which collectively control nearly the entire market,” it said. “Barriers to entry are particularly high in regional areas, where coverage is often limited to a single provider’s network infrastructure. This lack of competitive pressure has contributed to relatively high retail prices and limited service quality improvements relative to OECD peers.”

Rewheel Research data on mobile retail prices included in the report show that Australia is more expensive than four-MNO markets, although it is below the average for OECD markets with three mobile operators.

“Infrastructure-sharing obligations and pro-competitive spectrum allocation are essential to lowering entry barriers in mobile markets, with several members making strides in this area in recent years,” the report said. The survey included France and Japan as case studies, noting that in the former, “spectrum auctions reserved blocks for new entrants, enabling Free’s entry in 2012.” “Within two years, prices fell by around 20% and consumer satisfaction improved,” it said.

In Japan, Rakuten Mobile’s market entry was backed by national roaming rights, as well as a policy push for tariff simplification and lower prices, it said. The report added: “Within the first full year of commercial service, average monthly plan prices fell by more than 60% compared with March 2020 as incumbents cut headline tariffs and introduced lower-cost digital sub-brands; authorities framed these steps as part of a broader strategy to boost competition and affordability.”

Rohan Pearce

IN TODAY'S  (Friday 23 January 2026) COMMSDAY

Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin has applied to the US Federal Communications Commission for authority to deploy and operate a large satellite system known as TeraWave, proposing a multi-orbit constellation designed to deliver ultra-high-capacity, symmetrical data links of up to 6Tbps between fixed sites globally. 

Optus has received positive responses for buyouts from around two thirds of its retail licensees with more than a month remaining before an opt-in deadline, as it moves to bring all branded retail stores under direct ownership. 

A new OECD report has called for efforts to encourage a fourth mobile network operator to enter the Australian market, pushing for spectrum to potentially be reserved for new entrants as well as the possibility of mandated infrastructure sharing.

RTI Cables founder Russ Matulich has taken a minority stake in Queensland digital infrastructure specialist TPL Connect, joining the business as chair as it looks to expand its advisory capability and geographic footprint. 

Gartner expects that by 2029 about 50% of tier-1 telecommunications operators would partner with low-Earth orbit satellite providers to offer direct-to-device connectivity, up from less than 10% today.

Internet provider Bryte has been penalised NZ$2,000 ($1,720) and given an official warning by the Commerce Commission after having been found to be in breach of New Zealand's 111 Contact Code. 

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang dismissed concerns over a possible market bubble created by artificial intelligence investment, instead describing AI as the largest infrastructure buildout in human history. 

Plus more

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