Nippon Telegraph And Telephone In Australia: Legislative Regulatory Frameworks And International Agreements
Overview of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Nippon is a Japan-based telecommunication enterprise, and its global head office is situated in Tokyo, Japan (NTT, 2018a). Currently, the corporation is the fourth largest telecommunication organisations globally in terms of revenue. In Australia, the company operates its business through its subsidiary which is NTT Communication Australia Pty Ltd. The enterprise operates in over 88 countries, and it offers products such as internet television, broadband, fixed-line telephone, mobile phone and IT services to its customers (NTT, 2018b). NTT security is the subsidiary of the company which operates in different locations in Australia while providing IT and mobile security services to its customers. The corporation operates in telecommunication and IT services industry, and it offers a wide range of telecommunication and IT services to its customers. Globally, the company has 282,550 employees (NTT, 2018a). In Australia, NTT Communication has hired over 200 employees to run its operations (NTTICT, 2018).
The legislative regulatory framework is referred to various regulations which companies have to comply with while operating their business in a country. The objective of these frameworks is to manage the operations of the business to ensure that they comply with the legal guidelines. Effective compliance with these regulations ensures that the corporations are not breaching any regulations and ensuring the safety of its employees and customers. Nippon is a Japan-based organisation, and the regulatory framework of Australia is different from Japan. It is important that the corporation evaluate all the necessary regulations which affect its operations in Australia to avoid legal consequences while managing the business of NTT Communications. Firstly, the key regulation which applies to the corporation is the taxation policy. The tax structure in Australia for organisations is straightforward in order to avoid complexities. The company has to pay tax on the revenue collected by it while providing services in Australia at a rate of 30 percent (ATO, 2018). The revenue on which this rate applies is the income which is generated by the company based on its telecommunication and IT services provided by it to its customers. Furthermore, since the company offers IT related and telecommunication services to its customers, it also has to pay Goods and Services Tax in Australia. The rate of GST is 10 percent, and the company has to manage all the accounts relating to the tax procedure in Australia (ATO, 2017).
While offering telecommunication services to its customers, the organisation has to comply with the Telecommunication Act 1997 which provides a number of key legislation regarding the services in Australia. The act governs the telecommunication organisations which are operating the industry to ensure that they comply with the necessary guidelines while maintaining the safety of its employees and customers. This act is supported by a range of other codes, legislation and instruments which also include the Telecommunication (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act, 1999 (DLA Piper, 2018). The objective of this act is to ensure that the telecommunication organisations are offering high-quality services to its customers and it also protects the rights of customers. This act issued a standard for telecommunication enterprises with which they have to comply with in order to ensure that services meet a standard which is promised by the company. The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) has established by the Australian government to handle issues relating to the management of telecommunication enterprises in Australia (ACMA, 2018). The objective of this authority is to issue standards which are considered as obligations for the telecommunication carriers. The authority also provides a wide range of requirements which telecommunication providers have to meet in order to ensure that they adhere to the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman scheme. These regulations are a part of the long-term scheme of the Australian Government to ensure that people will continue to receive a reliance and high-speed connection while using the services of a telecom provider.
Legislative regulatory frameworks affecting NTT in Australia
The enterprise has hired more than 200 employees in order to manage its operations in Australia effectively. While dealing with such employees, the company has to comply with non-discrimination obligations which are imposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The regulations prohibited the government from discriminating among its employees based on their gender, caste, race, colour or religion (ACCC, 2013). Furthermore, the company also comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 based on it the corporation cannot discriminate between employees based on any discrimination. These regulations ensure that the corporation is providing appropriate resources to its employees and providing them equal growth opportunities in the enterprise. Another key legal framework is the Special Access Undertaking (SAU) which was accepted by ACCC in December 2013. The ACCC issues the SAU as per the provisions gave under 152CBA of Part XIC of the Competition and Consumer Act (Brown and Broadhurst, 2017). The objective of this regulation is to provide various terms and conditions regarding wholesale services provided by telecom corporations to their clients.
Another important regulation in Australia is the Fair Trading Act which various provisions regarding fair trading in Australia. Nippon has to comply with these policies while managing its operations in Australia. The act ensures that large enterprises did not use their powers to adversely affect the business of small organisations. The Australian government supports the small businesses in the country because they have a significant contribution to the economy of the country (Business Victoria, 2018). On the other hand, organisations such as Nippon use their powers to create a monopoly in the country by acquiring the business of small organisations or providing them fierce competition by competitive pricing strategy. Based on the Fair Trading Regulations, the companies such as Nippon have to ensure that they are fairly trading in Australia and did not adversely affecting the business of other organisations. These regulations prohibit the company from entering into a contract with its competitors in establishing a competitive pricing strategy with an objective to negatively affect the business of small corporations. These guidelines are important to comply by Nippon while managing its operations in Australia since it enables the organisation to avoid any legal consequences due to which it has to pay a substantial fine or other financial loss. In case any of these guidelines are breached by the company, then the Australian government can hold Nippon and its executives liable for such violation and imposes appropriate penalties on the company and its management.
Tax policies
The objective of countries to form treaties with other nations is to open new mediums for financial investments in the country which result in supporting the economy of both nations. Many agreements are formed between organisations and governments which have a significant impact on the products and services offered by the company. Furthermore, these agreements, conventions or treaties provide various legal guidelines for the international organisations while they manage their operations in different nations. These guidelines also assist them in expanding their business in several countries by removing complex legal framework and other regulations which are necessary to comply by the enterprises without such treaties. In the case of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, the main operations of the enterprise are situated in Japan; however, the company offers its services in 88 countries globally. The enterprise has established over 230 data centres in such countries. While operating its business in Australia, the treaties, and agreements formed by the government affect the operations of the company. Along with Australia, NTT also offers its services in New Zealand. Thus, the treaties signed between both nations assist the operations of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA) is an agreement which is formed between these two nations, and the objective of this treaty is to promote economic relationships between these parties (DFAT, 2018). Based on such treaty, the corporations which operate in one country are able to expand their operations in another by complying with the guidelines issues in this treaty.
The objective of this agreement is to build commercial relationships between these two nations while promoting the operations of small as well as large enterprises. The agreement provides a standard with which corporations have to comply with in order to easily expand their operations in both nations. Furthermore, the governments also provide financial assistance to small enterprises in order to promote their business in both nations to support the economy of both countries. Since Nippon Telegraph and Telephone offers its services in both nations, the treaty benefits it in using its resources in one country to providing effective services in another. Based on this treaty, the legal framework faced by the corporation is relatively flexible since the enterprise only has to comply with the guidelines issued in this agreement (Austrade, 2018). This agreement has a significant impact on the services offered by the enterprise to its customers. The company has to maintain a high level of the standard while offering its services in both nations based on the regulations issued by this treaty which are focused towards supporting the economy of this country while at the same time improving the services offered to the customers. The governments of Australian and New Zealand have formed various treaties in order to promote trade practices between the two nations. The ASEAN or Australia New Zealand Free Trade is another good example which is a treaty signed between the two nations which result in influencing the services offered by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in both nations. Based on this treaty, the enterprise is able to improve the services offered by the company to its customers by using the resources from both nations (MFAT, 2018). The expansion of operations resulted in making NTT one of the largest enterprises in the telecommunication and IT services industry. It resulted in increasing the number of investors in the company which assist it in offering high quality and effective services to its customers.
Rules regarding telecommunication services
Another key market for Nippon Telegraph and Telephone is China in which the company has established its operations under its subsidiary called NTT Communications which is a part of NTT Group. Since Australia and China are two of the key markets for Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, it focuses on effectively managing both of its operations and using the resources from one or the another to improve the efficiency of its services. The treaties signed between the Australian and Chinese government enables the company in pooling its resources and leadership together to form key business strategies which are focused towards achieving the goal of the enterprise. The ChAFTA or China Australia Free Trade Agreement is a good example. This treaty is signed between these two nations to promote the trade practices between each other (DFAT, 2015). The objective of this agreement is to reduce the legal restrictions on the enterprises who wanted to establish their operations in either of the countries. Furthermore, the governments also provide financial support to the organisations in order to assist them in expanding their operations overseas. The objective of this treaty is to support the economy of both nations by improving trade practices between the two nations (TIQ, 2018). The legal framework face by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone is reduced based on this agreement which enables the enterprise in improving its operations while at the same time increase its investments opportunities. These are some of the treaties, conventions, and agreements which influence the products and services offered by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone while operating its business in Australia. Based on these agreements, the corporation is able to expand its operations in different nations due to which it is the fourth largest telecommunication providers in the country. It results in improving the services offered by the enterprise to its customers.
References:
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