The Universal Service Guarantee (USG) replaces the previous Universal Service Obligation and now includes broadband within its scope.
Background: In December 2017, the Australian government announced a program to develop a USG that would ensure all Australian premises have access to voice and broadband services. Under this model, USG services would generally be delivered on a commercial basis, leveraging the National Broadband Network (NBN) and other commercial networks (such as mobile networks).
What’s new? The government has now released a report with detail on what the USG will look like. Broadband will be primarily delivered via the NBN, whereas the voice component will be delivered using the existing USO contract with Telstra for the foreseeable future.
Next steps: Not all details are in place yet. Parliament is in the process of passing legislation to make the NBN the ‘Statutory Infrastructure Provider’ and require it to provide wholesale speeds of at least 25Mbps in download, and 5Mbps in upload. The government will also review Telstra’s USO in 2021, although the current USO contract is set to expire in 2032.
