ICCC to give Telstra clearance

TELSTRA’S planned acquisition of Digicel PNG is likely to go ahead after the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) concluded that it would not reduce competition in the telecommunication market.
However, members of the public would still be able to submit their views which would be considered, said commissioner and chief executive officer Paulus Ain.
This follows ICCC’s assessment that the proposed acquisition is unlikely to lessen competition in the telecommunication market.
Ain said in a draft determination that the ICCC will give the green light for the acquisition to go ahead.
It will now invite comments from the public on the proposed merger.
“After careful consideration of the information provided in Telstra’s clearance application, as well as comments received from both industry participants and relevant stakeholders, including available market information, the ICCC concluded in its draft determination that the proposed acquisition will not have, or will not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in any telecommunication services market,” Ain said.
“The ICCC therefore proposes to give clearance to Telstra to proceed with the proposed acquisition.
“The ICCC now invites persons who may have an interest in the proposed acquisition to provide comments and or make submissions on the draft determination.”
He said all submissions would be treated as public information, except where information was marked “confidential” by the submitter. “Where information is marked confidential, the submitter must provide reason(s) as to why that particular information should not be disclosed to the public or kept confidential.
“The ICCC will assess and decide on the confidentiality claim(s),” he said.
“All comments and submissions should reach the ICCC by Jan 25, 2022.”