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NBN boss seeks price cap on phone calls

Wholesale prices for phone calls should not rise above $24 a month as the National Broadband Network is built, NBN's CEO Mike Quigley says.

Wholesale prices for telephone calls should not rise above $24 a month as the National Broadband Network (NBN) is built, NBN Co's CEO Mike Quigley says.

"Voice-only prices should not increase," Quigley told ABC TV in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

NBN Co's price for voice-only services is $24 a month, but Quigley warned he could not guarantee that consumers would not face price rises for phone calls from retailers.

"What I can guarantee is, we at NBN Co have set the wholesale prices so that those retail prices for voice-only should not go up," he said.

Wholesale pricing structures for other telecommunications services are being discussed with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Quigley said.

His comments came five days after Telstra shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal with the federal government and NBN Co which would allow the telco to progressively decommission its copper-based network in return for $11 billion from the public purse.

Government-funded NBN Co was created to build and operate a fibre-optic cable network to 93 per cent of Australian homes, schools and businesses, with the rest provided by fixed-wireless and satellite technology.

Under the deal between the government and Telstra, NBN Co will be allowed to access Telstra's pits, manholes and exchanges, and sell some infrastructure.

The $36 billion NBN project is scheduled for completion in 2021 and Quigley admitted a potential change of government in 2013 is "not something we've planned for".

Nor has NBN Co spoken to opposition spokesman Malcolm Turnbull about his plans to dismantle the NBN if the coalition wins the next election, he said.

The NBN is being built as a public good rather than to maximise profit but could be sold at some point in the future.

"It can be a public good and it can become a profitable asset for the nation and hence could be sold," Quigley said.

"(But) you can't achieve both in the next two or three years."

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

More about: ABC, ABC, ACCC, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, etwork, Quigley, Telstra

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