Telecom Examining Draft Decision

Telecom Examining Draft Decision

Telecom won’t firm up its view on the Commerce Commission’s draft determination on the wholesaling of its services until it has investigated all its possible implications.

“We do have an initial basic concern that the draft determination appears to go much further than the regulatory regime in Australia and covers a far greater range of services,” Telecom Chief Operating Officer New Zealand Simon Moutter said today.

“In addition, the Commission doesn’t seem to acknowledge that much of the telecommunications market in New Zealand is already competitive. Compare that with the situation in Australia where the Australian regulator has made a call to unregulate access in central business districts where there is competing infrastructure.

“Not recognising the fact the New Zealand market is competitive would be an astonishing failure because the Telecommunications Act requires different wholesaling rules depending on the degree of competition in particular markets.

“We’re going to be putting a massive amount of effort into examining this draft decision because it’s vital the Commissioner makes the right call on this one. His decision will have a huge impact on investment in New Zealand’s telecommunications infrastructure.

“As we’ve said before, why would we continue to invest at our current high levels if the benefits are immediately siphoned off by our competitors?”

Mr Moutter said Telecom was concerned at the process that gives just nine working days from today to respond to a very detailed draft decision, which raises more questions than it answers.

“Speedy resolution of disputes is great. But it’s not helping anyone if it produces incomplete decisions. As we’ve already seen with interconnection, there’s no guarantee that the final decision will even stay within the bounds indicated by the draft.

“The Commission has its work cut out making sure this process ends up with a quality decision that will be good for New Zealand customers,” Mr Moutter said.

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