2 October 2015
Cameron Watt
Sent via email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our Ref: 1516/14.05
Dear Mr Watt,
FOI Application – UNI-DSL Specification
I am writing in relation to your request, made under the
Freedom of Information Act, 1982 (
the FOI Act).
Once you have considered this letter, please contact me using the contact details set out below in order to
clarify the terms of this request.
Scope of FOI Application On 30 August 2015,
nbn received
a request from you under the FOI Act, seeking certain information around
nbn’s UNI-DSL Specification.
On 4 September 2015, a member of the
nbn FOI team wrote to you, requesting that you clarify parts of your
request. On 24 September 2015, you wrote to
nbn, seeking to clarify your request as follows:
“I am writing to provide clarification to my original application as requested and in light of the recent
updates and/or changes to the WBA2 documents referenced.
For simplicity's sake, I refer you to the "WBA Product Catalogue - Product Technical Specification – NBN
Co Ethernet Bitstream Service - FTTB/FTTN" document that is available from the following webpage
http://www.nbnco.com.au/sell-nbn-services/supply-agreements/wba2.html at the time of writing.
I would like to amend my request for copies of or answers to the following;
1. a)
The number of current "VDSL2 Equipment" registrations as it relates to section "7.1 VDSL2
Registration"
1. b)
The list of registered "VDSL2 Equipment" and their registration information, including VDSL2 Equipment
Vendor ID, System ID, Version Number and clear-text name as it relates to section "7.1 VDSL2
Registration".
2.
The current "UNI-DSL specification" maintained by NBN Co and referred to in section "7.2 UNI
Specification".”
I am still unclear as to what you are seeking in relation to the “current UNI-DSL Specification maintained by
NBN Co and referred to in section 7.2 UNI Specification.” Based on my preliminary discussions with the
business, the UNI-DSL specification referred to in 7.2 UNI Specification is set out in the same document you
appear to be referring to in your email on 24 September 2015. I would refer you to pages 43-47 of the Product
Technical Specification for the NBN Co Ethernet Bitstream Service - FTTB/FTTN, specifically at:
http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/sfaa-wba2-product-catalogue-nebs-product-tech-
spec-fttb-fttn_20150904.pdf. As a result, I am unclear as to what you are seeking beyond this in relation to the
current UNI-DSL specification. I refer you to section
15(2)(b) of the FOI Act, which requires an applicant to
provide sufficient information so as to enable the agency to identify the relevant documents. Again, I would ask
that you contact me to clarify the terms of your request. Until those terms are clarified, the statutory time
frame for completing this request will not commence.
FOI Charging Processes Please note that processing charges may be imposed in relation to this FOI application. In that regard, I would
refer you to
nbn’s FOI processing charges policy, which is outlined at the following hyperlink
: Submission to
the OAIC Charges Review. In particular,
nbn supports – and will generally apply – Recommendation 24 in the
Hawke Review into FOI Legislation, which suggests a 40-hour ceiling for FOI processing charges.
nbn’s Commercial Activities Exemption
I also refer you to
nbn’s commercial activities exemption (
the CAE), as pe
r section 7(3A) and
Part II of
Schedule 2 of the FOI Act. In particular, you should be aware that documents that are in relation to
nbn’s “commercial activities” are not subject to the operation of the FOI Act. For your reference, the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner (
the OAIC) completed a review decision in January 2012 (
the
Internode Decision), which provides background and guidance as to the application of the CAE to
nbn. The
Internode Decision may be found by clicking on the following
link. The OAIC completed an additional review at
the end of July 2013 –
the Battersby Decision, which further clarified the scope of
nbn’s CAE or commercial
activities exemption. While I am not making a formal decision, depending on the level of detail you are seeking
for the structure charts, there is a possibility that documents falling within the terms of this FOI request may be
subject to the CAE, among other exemptions from release.
Disclosure Log Notification In accordance with the FOI Act,
nbn is required to publish documents provided to FOI applicants within 10
working days after release. The information you seek may be published in full (as released to you) or with
some additional redactions as per section 11C of the FOI Act. For further information, visit ou
r Disclosure Log
on
nbn’s website.
If you have any questions or need to discuss your FOI application, please feel free to contact the writer on Tel.
8918 5655 or via email on
xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx. Sincerely,
An Vo
Associate Legal Counsel
FOI, Privacy & Knowledge Management
