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Closing the copper network

A year ago I posted When should we rip out the copper network? It's too early to name a date today, but following this discussion on Linkedin, I predicted:

As the law stands today, a street has copper even if only one house uses it. The price is regulated by the Commerce Commission and I guess it will rise steadily as the cost is covered by fewer and fewer subscribers. I don't think we'll hit that point.

My prediction is a cut off point will be announced before the end of this Parliament.


Why do I say that? Because setting a cut-off date, even if it is many years away, will give telecommunications investors some certainty. And there may be a political need to do that before the end of this Parliament.

Also, Labour's Claire Curran has said her party is interested in setting a date. The current government might want to get there first.

This post first appeared at billbennett.co.nz as Closing the copper network

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