This report has been prepared for Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA). Its purpose is to help build community understanding of the likely price and reliability impacts of leasing network assets, based on evidence from interstate and independent analysis of data.

The report concludes that, in the Australian experience, privatised network businesses generally operate more efficiently, resulting in lower price increases compared to their government-owned counterparts. This appears to have been achieved without compromising service standards, and applies across both urban and rural customers.