The ACCC has launched a broad investigation of the overall state of Australia’s telecommunication sector, with the National Broadband Network and 5G technology to be particular points of focus.

With the NBN rollout approaching half-way, the high wholesale access prices it charges are still causing concern for telcos.

There is also a view that it has led to some premises receiving poor broadband services while being slugged with higher prices.

NBN Co and some retail service providers say they are working to streamline service delivery, but the continually mounting public discontent has drawn the intention of the ACCC.

But ACC chief Rod Sims said the scope of the market probe extends beyond the NBN.

“This is more than just a health check and there’s a lot going on in the sector, which is in a state of flux and uncertainty,” Mr Sims told The Australian.

“There are two big things going on: NBN is one of them and technology is the other one.”

Mr Sims says the wave of new technology in both fixed broadband and mobile markets will have an impact on efficiency and competition over the next three to five years.

“With or without the NBN, we still need to question the interplay between mobile and fixed in the 5G world, we need to think about the Internet of Things and what its spectrum needs will be, and whether we have the right investment for the growth in data,” he said.

The ACCC is set to use the review to test whether its current regulatory focus will remain appropriate in the changing communications landscape.

“With the NBN now a reality we need to ensure that everyone is working together to deliver the best possible outcome,” Mr Sims said.

“We want to hear all the views in the market and we want to hear them stated as boldly as possible.”

ON a more specific matter, the regulator is creating a national broadband speed monitoring scheme to better spot broadband choke points for households.

But Mr Sims has been keen to downplay the role the ACCC will play in forcing NBN Co to publicly disclose speed information.

“NBN Co’s data is all about measuring speed at the access level. It doesn’t measure what the box the RSP is putting on the NBN provides, it doesn’t measure the contention from the ISP,” he said.

“The data is important to us but there’s no point putting that data out to the public,” he said.

In the mobile arena, the ACCC has launched a legal dispute with Vodafone on domestic roaming, with court dates set for the end of September.

The ACCC recently blocked Vodafone’s attempt to force access to Telstra’s regional network in May.

“You’ve got to have a reason to regulate and I think I did annoy Vodafone by saying in the draft decision that we didn’t have enough evidence,” Mr Sims said.

“There’s some validity in Vodafone saying that there’s a vicious cycle in play that entrenches Telstra’s monopoly … but it doesn’t determine the debate.”