Court hangs up on inquiry challenge

VODAFONE Australia has failed in its challenge to the consumer watchdog’s handling of an inquiry into domestic mobile roaming services.

The Federal Court has dismissed a challenge mounted by Vodafone against a finding by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on technical grounds.

In May, the ACCC made a preliminary ruling there was insufficient evidence a wholesale domestic mobile roaming service would benefit customers in the long term.

Under such a service, a Vodafone customer would automatically have access to a rival network, such as that offered by Telstra, in areas without Vodafone coverage.

In June, led by chief executive Inaki Berroeta, it sought Federal Court orders to derail the ACCC’s draft ruling and restrain the watchdog proceeding with the probe.

The telco claimed the inquiry process that produced the draft decision was flawed and had not been done properly because a description of the roaming service had not been defined by the watchdog.

Vodafone claimed the process was failing consumers because it was “too vague” and argued that without knowing the parameters of the proposed service, the ACCC could not properly conduct its analysis.

Despite the ongoing court case, the ACCC proceeded with its inquiry and in October released its final report.

It came to the same conclusion as the preliminary finding. However, it did identify a range of measures that could help improve mobile phone coverage and poor service quality in regional Australia.

Yesterday, Justice John Griffiths dismissed Vodafone’s claims, saying the ACCC did not need to define the service at the inquiry’s outset.

Vodafone said that while it respected the court’s ruling, it was concerned about the implications for the clarity and robustness required of the ACCC when making decisions.

“Despite the court’s decision, there is clearly still a problem that needs to be solved,” it said. “We still firmly believe domestic roaming is Australia’s best opportunity to boost coverage and competition in areas where it doesn’t currently exist.”