Telecom And Clear Agree On Clean Slate

Telecom And Clear Agree On “Comprehensive Clean Slate”

CLEAR Communications and Telecom New Zealand have agreed on a Relationship Package, which the two companies describe as a “comprehensive clean slate” for the next 12 months.

The package, effective 1 October, incorporates agreements on interconnection and wholesale-related matters and commits both sides to a more open and commercial relationship.

CLEAR and Telecom have also settled all court proceedings between them, including Commerce Act and 0867 related matters. A few remaining minor legal issues will be subject to further discussions with a view to settling them as well.

The Chief Executives of both companies have described the Relationship Package as a commercially pragmatic agreement between competitors who have decided to put their differences aside and to adopt a better working relationship.

Telecom Chief Executive Theresa Gattung said the approach to interconnection is innovative, setting a single price for a 12-month package of long-distance and mobile interconnection minutes.

Peter Kaliaropoulos, CLEAR’s incoming Chief Executive, said the 12 month term of the Relationship Package acknowledged the potential for change to the telecommunications environment as a result of the Ministerial Inquiry and left both parties free to negotiate more enduring agreements once the Inquiry’s recommendations had been implemented.

“In the meantime,” he said, “we have a commercial agreement that addresses the major disputes between us and clears the way for both companies to get on with business.”

Highlights of the Relationship Package include:

- A set of principles under which both companies commit to a more open and commercial relationship.

- An Interconnection package that sees CLEAR pay Telecom a net figure of $35million over the year for:

- Origination and termination by Telecom of 1,828 million minutes of long-distance calls by CLEAR customers. - 49 million minutes of CLEAR–Telecom mobile calls - The settlement of other matters, including a compromise on the termination of Internet dial-up minutes (calls to ISPs). Under this compromise, both sides reserve their positions on Internet dial-up termination and, as part of the broader arrangements, CLEAR does not receive payment for Internet dial-up termination. - Excess minutes outside the package will be charged at an agreed rate. - A Data package giving CLEAR wholesale and resale access to Telecom’s JetStream, a DSL service

- A confidential litigation settlement under which both parties withdraw from the court proceedings currently between them.

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