NBN Co’s special-access undertaking (SAU) has come under fire from internet service providers (ISP) clamouring for greater regulatory oversight in their first round of submissions to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). 

The SAU is designed to work in conjunction with the wholesale broadband agreement (WBA) that has already undergone five rewrites. While the WBA outlines the arrangements between NBN Co and access seekers over a period of time, currently 12 months, the SAU sets out the pricing and regulatory framework of the NBN and gives the ACCC powers to intervene in disputes between access seekers and NBN Co.

Both agreements are critical to the future of the NBN and while the ISPs in general have accepted the WBA, there are evidently considerable doubts about the SAU and the level of regulatory oversight outlined in the document.  

Telstra, Macquarie Telecom, iiNet, Internode, TransACT, Adam Internet and Vodafone Australia have all told the ACCC that the current SAU still gives NBN Co too much power. 

According to Telstra, there is an "inherent weakness" in the way the SAU and the WBA interact, while Macquarie Telecom said that it was concerned that the SAU proposes to dictate how the ACCC can make decisions and resolve disputes.

This is the first round of consultation on the SAU with the second round of submissions to focus more closely on specific issues.