The City of Sydney filed a Federal Court application to join the City of Melbourne in legal action against Telstra over its plan to add digital advertising screens supplied by outdoor advertiser JCDecaux to its national network of 16,000 payphones.
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| A new Telstra payphone |
The City of Melbourne has told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal that large-format digital advertising displays on Telstra phone booths are not “low impact” and are therefore subject to local government planning rules.
The City of Melbourne this year rejected 81 applications for permits to display advertising on payphones in Melbourne before Telstra took the case to the Federal Court. The Sydney council has now filed an application to join those proceedings.
“We have been exploring our legal options since becoming aware that Telstra intended to install or upgrade payphones with integrated advertising displays throughout the City of Sydney using its powers under the Telecommunications Act 1997,” said a City of Sydney spokesperson. “Our view is that the new or upgraded payphones are not intended to be designed solely for use as a content and carriage service.
“We continue to dispute that Telstra is entitled to install or upgrade these payphones with large advertising panels using these powers.
“These actions by Telstra would reduce our control of footpaths and public spaces and reduce our ability to ensure that the design and location of these enlarged payphones doesn’t negatively impact pedestrians or businesses.”
Telstra said: “We recently began a payphone upgrade project across Australian metropolitan areas to enhance the services that can be accessed from around 1,800 of our payphones.
“It is envisaged that over time the new payphones will provide a number of additional services for the community, including mobile phone charging, Wi-Fi access, as well as providing a space for communicating everything from emergency alerts to a range of content services such as public transport information to city maps, weather, tourist advice, information on nearby cultural attractions and the ability to promote the work of charitable organisations.
“JCDecaux has worked closely with us on the design and delivery of the new payphone booths and in addition to the information outlined above the screens on the booths may be used to display commercial advertising. In order to display commercial advertising on street furniture, JCDecaux follows the required council planning approvals process, separate to Telstra’s rights to install the payphone booth under relevant legislation.”
