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And says the ACCC, average prices for fixed-line services fell by three per cent and average prices for mobile services fell by 2.3 per cent.
"These reports show that end users continue to reap the benefits of competition through increased carrier investments, product innovation and lower prices," ACCC Chairman, Graeme Samuel, said
The fall in prices for fixed-line services was not reflected evenly across the residential and business segments. Average prices paid by residential and business customers fell by 1.6 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively. As in previous years, price falls for businesses continued to exceed price falls for residential consumers in 2006-07.
Prices for GSM services decreased by 2.7 per cent, however prices for CDMA services increased by 2.6 per cent.
"The decline in average prices could have been influenced by several factors, including productivity gains in the telecommunications sector and greater price competition faced by providers of fixed line services," Samuel said.
2006-07 saw the highest level of investment in telecommunications in the 10 years since the introduction of open competition. During the period carriers announced, or commenced investment in expanding the footprints and/or improving the data capability of their 3G mobile networks, increasing speeds over HFC networks and investing in wireless networks and competing backhaul transmission capability.
