Commission updates process for assessing unregulated UBA

Commission updates process for assessing unregulated UBA services

Issued 27 June 2014

Release No. 120

The Commerce Commission today updated its process for assessing whether the two new and unregulated unbundled bitstream access (UBA) services, Boost HD and Boost VDSL, proposed by Chorus on 14 May, fall within the category of regulated UBA service.

At a workshop the Commission held last week, some industry participants were concerned that Chorus’s proposals for new unregulated services were unclear. Workshop participants were also concerned about the impact on consumers.

The Commission is therefore releasing an issues paper to hear further views on these matters.

“The Commission encourages Chorus to develop innovative variants that compete with the regulated service” said Stephen Gale, Telecommunications Commissioner. “The updated process will allow the Commission to seek the views of a full range of parties on Chorus’ proposal before publishing its draft decision.”

We expect to publish:

An issues paper on 7 July, with submissions due on 15 July and cross-submissions due on 18 July;
A draft decision on 5 August, with submissions due on 19 August; and
A final decision on 9 September.
Background

Unbundled bitstream access (UBA) is a service that allows telecommunications companies to supply broadband services to customers without the need to replicate Chorus' electronics or software.

Chorus is required to provide the Commission with Notice of any new unregulated UBA services (referred to as New UBA Variants) under clause 10 of the Standard Terms Determination for Chorus’ Unbundled Bitstream Access Service (UBA STD).

The Commission can then assess whether the proposed New UBA Variants fall within the existing UBA Service Description outlined in Schedule 1 of the UBA STD.

The last time the Commission assessed a New UBA Variant was in 2010 when Telecom proposed the Wholesale VDSL2 Service.

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