The new ISO guidelines state as follows :

^#1867 Standard zones

1. For the purposes of this Part, if
   
   
   1. immediately before 1 July 1991, Telecom supplied, or offered to supply, to persons within a particular area within Australia, a carriage service that was, immediately before that date, a standard telephone service (within the meaning of the Telecommunications Act 1991); and

   2. under the terms and conditions on which Telecom supplied, or would supply, that service to persons in that area, the charges for calls of a particular kind between points within that area made using the service were, or would be, worked out on an untimed basis;

   that area is a standard zone.

   Note: Untimed basis is defined by subsection (2).

2. For the purposes of this section, charges for calls of a particular kind are worked out on an untimed basis if, and only if, the charges for the calls of that kind are worked out by reference to the number of such calls made during a particular period, regardless of how long each call lasted.

^#1871 Eligible local calls

1. For the purposes of the application of this Part to a carriage service provider who supplies a standard telephone service to an eligible customer in a particular standard zone, being an eligible customer who is a residential/charity customer, an eligible local call is a call that:
   1. is made using that service; and

   2. is made between points in the applicable zone in relation to the provider and in relation to the customer; and

   3. is not an exempt call (as defined by subsection (3)); and

   4. is of a kind that, immediately before 20 September 1996, a general carrier offered to supply, or supplied, on an untimed basis between points in that standard zone.

residential/charity customer means:

1. a residential customer; or

2. a customer that is:
   1. a charitable body or organisation; or

   2. a welfare body or organisation.

^#1872 Requirement to provide an untimed local call option

If a carriage service provider supplies a standard telephone service to an eligible customer, the provider must give the customer an untimed local call option.

In administering the StopTelstra campaign, EFA has been persuaded that there is a continuing need to monitor Telstra (and in due course other carriers) and the impact on the Internet of telco policies. Therefore, while the existing StopTelstra campaign was focussed on ensuring continuing untimed local data calls for home and charity users, a continuing "watching brief" will be maintained by EFA, especially regarding:

• any attempts to make Internet access beyond the reach of low-income users and organisations.
• Telstra's competition with small ISPs and its Internet policies generally.
• Business tariffs and options such as ISDN and cable services.
• Any backtracking on the policy of exempting home and charity users.
• Other telco issues as may emerge on the list.

The StopTelstra committee will henceforth be chaired by Jase Przychodzen (mnemonic@pobox.com, http://hal9000.net.au/~decker/) and will report to the EFA Board on developments with telco policy and access issues.

The Stoptelstra lists will remain active, but those persons who were interested in the campaign solely in relation to the timed local data calls issue may wish to unsubscribe now by sending email to stoptelstra-request@efa.org.au with the word "unsubscribe" in the body of the message.

To all supporters of the campaign to date, thank you very much. There is no doubt that the numbers and interest of the many hundreds of Net users was crucial in the government making this decision to reject the Telstra proposal.

If you would like to close your involvement in the campaign on a positive note, Senator Alston's email address at minister@dca.gov.au would be a good place to send a message of congratulation for coming to the correct decision.

However, many people involved in the campaign have indicated that they would be interested in continuing with a broader campaign agenda, and I'd invite people who wish to be involved in such a campaign to contact Jase or myself to join the StopTelstra Committee to plan future action and objectives. It is quite probable that other issues will prove to be just as pressing and requiring of a co-ordinated campaign by Net users.

For the time being, thanks again for your support. The EFA web site at http://www.efa.org.au will continue to highlight telco issues as they arise, and the proposed class action by State-based Internet Associations against Telstra will have EFA support.

Regards,
Kimberley Heitman,
Chairperson, EFA