Rural and Regional Committee

Rural and Regional Committee

Rural and Regional Committee

Parliament of Victoria

“Inquiry into Opportunities for Telecommuting and E-Business in Rural and Regional Victoria”

AMTA Submission – 30 August 2013

Introduction

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) is the peak industry body representing Australia’s mobile telecommunications industry. Its mission is to promote an environmentally, socially and economically responsible, successful and sustainable mobile telecommunications industry in Australia, with members including the mobile Carriage Service Providers (CSPs), handset manufacturers, network equipment suppliers, retail outlets and other suppliers to the industry. For more details about AMTA, see

AMTA welcomes the opportunity to provide comments to the Rural and Regional Committee at the Parliament of Victoria (the Committee) in relation to its inquiry into opportunities for people to use telecommuting and e-business to work remotely in rural and regional Victoria. AMTA has provided some background information and comments regarding the specific terms of reference for the inquiry below.

Background – Mobile Nation

In February 2013, Deloitte Access Economics released Mobile Nation, a report commissioned by AMTA to examine the economic, business and social impacts of the Australian mobile telecommunications industry.

The Mobile Nation report found:

The current wave of mobile technology is driving labour efficiency with ‘productivity apps’ and use of ‘down time’; it is also increasing capital productivity: with estimated economic productivity benefits of $11.8 billion over the next decade.”[1]

Also:

“Mobile is moving from a device for individuals to a platform for all of business’ ICT needs: email, software, cloud, big data, and m-commerce. Driven by customers and employees, it has significantly changed how marketing, HR and IT functions operate.”[2]

The report also found that the mobile industry plays an enabling role across Australia’s economy and mobile broadband, smartphones and tablets are increasingly critical to the digital strategies of businesses.

While mobile phones were initially an important tool for businesses; mobile communications are now integrated across the whole of business as the trend of digital convergence changes how businesses operate.

Now, everything digital is also going mobile: computers, software, the internet, cloud and social media.”[3]

AMTA strongly believes that the productivity benefits offered by the mobile telecommunications industry can play an important role in rural and regional Victoria in enabling e-business applications and teleworking opportunities.

To realise these productivity benefits, AMTA believes that all State Governments should support a policy framework that recognises and promotes continued mobile industry investment in latest generation mobile technologies and infrastructure. This will maximise the productivity and connectivity benefits to Australian consumers, businesses, organisations and governments that can be delivered by enhanced mobile capabilities.

Government policy settings must encourage and promote continued mobile industry investment to ensure consumer demands can be met across Australia with the flow-on productivity and connectivity benefits identified in the Mobile Nation report.

The mobile industry is committed to meeting the unrelenting growth in demand for mobile data and broadband services by investing in latest generation mobile technologies and network infrastructure across Australia. This commitment is demonstrated by the $10+ billion investment industry has already made in mobile networks, spectrum purchases and spectrum licence re-issue fees over the past two years as well as carriers’ current plans for the roll-out of next-generation mobile data and broadband services.

Continued mobile industry investment is essential for mobile carriers to be able to meet exponentially increasing consumer demand for mobile services, including mobile broadband. This increasing level of investment takes place in the context of mobile infrastructure costs (including spectrum licences, network deployment and latest generation technologies), while mobile industry revenues are under downward pressure for the first time ever.

Finally, regulation must be minimised and red tape reduced to ensure the productivity and connectivity benefits of mobile broadband are realised. In order to maintain the highly competitive nature of the mobile industry regulation needs to be minimised to provide the flexibility necessary for industry to adapt to the rapid pace of technological change and the continual evolution of business models in mobile markets. The regulatory framework needs to be clearly understood and applied consistently so that industry has the requisite confidence and certainty to pursue ongoing investments. In addition, industry’s compliance costs must be minimised to encourage continued innovation and investment.

Potential Benefits for rural and regional Victoria

Mobile telecommunications can provide an increase in productivity to businesses in Victoria by increasing the effectiveness of employees through saving them time and cutting down on or eliminating commuting. Similarly, mobile telecommunications can increase capital productivity in Victoria by reducing the need for physical office space, vehicles and computers.

Mobile communications allow employees and managers to communicate effectively through calls, email and data exchanges, while working remotely. This facilitates decision-making processes as well as enables employees to make use of time that was once unproductive, for example, commuting time. Today’s smartphones and tablets also allow workers to have access to the internet. Mobile applications (or apps) can be used to increase productivity associated with routine business tasks.

Mobile communications also increase capital productivity through improvements in the efficiency of capital. For example, businesses may invest less in ICT equipment if employees bring their own devices (BYOD), such as lap-tops or tablets, to work. Optus’ Future of Business Report (2012) found that the proportion of large businesses issuing desktop computers will fall from 96% to 69% over the next three to five years.[4]

Machine-to-machine (M2M) mobile technology is also increasing capital productivity with great potential for application in the electricity, irrigation, health and transport sectors in Victoria.

Finally, teleworking reduces a business’ capital costs associated with providing a traditional workplace, such as rent and utilities.

Best Practice in e-business and remote working policies

Successful e-business and remote working policies will rely on businesses rolling out applications and changing their workplace culture across Victoria.

The Optus Future of Business Report (2012) found that almost half of the businesses it surveyed planned to develop proprietary or customised mobile device applications for customers in the next three to five years.[5] The Optus report also expects the roll-out of more applications supporting diverse payment options such as peer-to –peer payments and mobile payment services. Businesses surveyed also predicted substantial growth in online billing services such as BPay.[6]

The rapid adoption of smartphone technology in Australia has been remarkable with 64.6% of Australians now owning a smartphone.[7]The Optus Future of Business Report also found that IT managers expected their organisations to roll out tablets and smartphones to a wider range of employees over the next three to five years.[8] The report also notes that the range of mobile applications being run over corporate networks for mobile phones and tablets is becoming increasingly diverse with more applications being used for resource planning, customer relationship management, web-based video-conferencing and collaboration.

How the legislative and regulatory framework can promote e-business and telecommuting

AMTA believes that to realise the productivity benefits of mobile telecommunications, including teleworking and e-business the legislative and regulatory policy framework must be one that promotes continued investment in mobile network infrastructure and technologies in Victoria and across the country.

In order to maintain the highly competitive nature of the mobile industry regulation needs to be light-touch to provide the flexibility necessary for industry to adapt to the rapid pace of technological change and the continual evolution of business models in mobile markets.

The regulatory framework needs to be clearly understood and applied consistently so that industry has the requisite confidence and certainty to pursue ongoing investments. In addition, industry’s compliance costs must be minimised to encourage continued innovation and investment.

AMTA endorses the OECD regulatory governance principles:

OECD Regulatory Principles[9]

1. Adopt at the political level broad programs of regulatory reform that establish clear objectives and frameworks for implementation.

2. Assess impacts and review regulations systematically to ensure that they meet their intended objectives efficiently and effectively in a changing and complex economic and social environment.

3. Ensure that regulations, regulatory institutions charged with implementation, and regulatory processes are transparent and non-discriminatory.

4. Review and strengthen where necessary the scope, effectiveness and enforcement of competition policy.

5. Design economic regulations in all sectors to stimulate competition and efficiency, and eliminate them except where clear evidence demonstrates that they are the best way to serve broad public interests.

6. Eliminate unnecessary regulatory barriers to trade and investment through continued liberalisation and enhance the consideration and better integration of market openness throughout the regulatory process, thus strengthening economic efficiency and competitiveness.

7. Identify important linkages with other policy objectives and development policies to achieve those objectives in ways that support reform.

Establishing potential productivity benefits

The Optus Future of Work Report[10] notes that social and technological changes are reshaping Victorian workplaces. The report notes important workplace trends including increasing mobility, use of collaboration tools, social media, BYOD, cloud computing and more flexible and remote working arrangements. The Optus report suggests that in this transition to a new workplace it is important for IT and Human Resources (HR) departments to work closely together to ensure that the productivity and efficiency benefits can be realised. The Optus report shows that when HR and IT departments collaborate effectively, more flexible and productive workplace outcomes can be achieved:

The sales force was only spending 20 per cent of their time on the road seeing clients and making sales, while the other 80 per cent was spent in the office doing back-end paperwork. It was agreed to take away their laptops and smartphones (replaced with more basic ones) and to supply iPad tablets. The sales force now undertakes administration on the road.”[11]

And,

For example, our HR department is heavily engaged with staff rostering while IT owns the staff rostering system. This structure facilitates good relationships across the key functions that drive a flexible working environment.”[12]

Conclusion

AMTA believes that Australia’s mobile telecommunications industry has an enabling effect on Australia’s economy, contributing to rising productivity and offering opportunities for people in rural and regional Victoria to use telecommuting and e-Business tools to work remotely.

For further information in relation to this submission please contact Lisa Brown, Policy Manager, AMTA at 02 6239 6555 or at .

Appendix A: Inquiry Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference

That under section 33 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, the following matters be referred to the Rural and Regional Committee for inquiry, consideration and report no later than 31 December 2013 on the opportunities for people to use telecommuting and e-business to work remotely in rural and regional Victoria, with particular reference to:

a. identifying the potential benefits for rural and regional Victoria if more people were able to work remotely;

b. examining best practice in e-business and remote working policy in other jurisdictions;

c. identifying any legislative impediments at a state, federal or local government level;

d. determining potential workplace relations, or occupational health and safety issues that would need to be addressed; and

e. establishing potential productivity, infrastructure or other savings associated with fewer employers and employees needing travel to and from work each day.

1

[1] Deloitte Access Economics Mobile Nation, The economic and social impacts of mobile technology. February 2013 at page iv

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid at page viii

[4] Optus, Future of Business Report: Research and Findings (2012)

[5] Ibid page 13

[6] Ibid page 15

[7] Sydney Morning Herald, Two-thirds of Aussies now own a smartphone: report July 29, 2013

[8] Optus Future of Business Report (2012) page 31-33

[9] OECD Regulatory Principles as adopted by the Australian Government in http://www.finance.gov.au/obpr/proposal/handbook/1-productivity-and-regulation.html

[10] Optus, Future of Work Report, 2011

[11] Ibid page 22

[12] Ibid page 56