A preliminary report by Australia's Productivity Commission has warned that identity checks on PrePay phone purchasers are imposing significant costs on both industry and consumer, while not delivering a commensurate level of benefits to the police and security services.
The Commission noted that while identity checks are conduced by phone retailers at the point of sale, liability for non-compliance rests with the carriage service providers, with no scope for enforcement action against retailers. With over 30,000 retailers, there is substantial scope for gaps to appear in the compliance with the regulations.
Submissions made by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association ( AMTA) to the Commission also noted that minors who are allowed to buy phones can have difficulty producing the required proof of identity.
The network operator, Optus reported that in 2006, the telecoms regulator, the ACMA proposed changes to the Prepaid Determination to improve the overall level of compliance. However, Optus sais that it was concerned that the objectives of the change were not clearly identified, there was no cost-benefit analysis conducted, and no benchmark measurement of compliance against which to measure any change.
The Commission said that overall, there appears to be considerable difficulty in preventing access to anonymous prepaid services for those determined to do so and the benefits from the current prepaid mobile phone identity check process appear doubtful.
The cost of compliance with the regulations is estimated to cost AU$10 million per year.
The Commission concluded that the Government should review the costs and benefits of identity checks for prepaid mobile phone services in consultation with law enforcement and security agencies. The review should have the objective of either abolishing the requirement, or substantially revising the regime to better achieve its objectives while eliminating unnecessary costs to business.
On the web: The Productivity Commission
Posted to the site on 28th June 2009
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/38245.php