Telecommunications Act - Unbundling reviews

Telecommunications Act - Unbundling reviews: Commission issues RFP and timetable update

The Commerce Commission has released a request for proposals (RFP) to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the regulatory options for the unbundling of Telecom New Zealand’s local loop network and its fixed Public Data Network. This forms part of the Commission’s investigations into assessing the desirability of unbundling under section 64 of the Telecommunications Act 2001.

The date for submission of proposals is Friday 16 May. The RFP can be downloaded from the Commission’s website at www.comcom.govt.nz under Telecommunications Regulation / Telecommunications Investigations / Local Loop and Public Data Network Unbundling.

The timescale for the Commission to deliver a final report on unbundling to the Minister of Communications is closely circumscribed by the Telecommunications Act 2001. The closing date for the submission of written responses on the Issues Paper on unbundling is 14 May 2003.

The Commission’s expected timetable for the main milestones in the unbundling reviews is given below (please note the timetable is subject to further updates).

Steps and procedures Deadline
Release of RFP for cost-benefit analysis (CBA) 2 May 2003
Closing date for written submissions on Issues Paper 14 May 2003
Closing date for proposals to conduct CBA 16 May 3003
Selection of consultancy to conduct CBA 30 May 2003
Submission of final report on CBA by consultancy 11 July 2003
Publication of Commerce Commission’s Draft Report End July 2003
Closing date for written submissions on Draft Report End August 2003
Public conference on Draft Report and written submissions 10-12 September 2003
Submission of Final Report to Minister 1 October 2003
Background Section 64 of the Telecommunications Act 2001 requires the Commerce Commission to conduct a review of the desirability of regulating access to the unbundled elements of Telecom New Zealand’s local loop network and access to the unbundled elements of, and interconnection with, Telecom New Zealand’s fixed Public Data Network (PDN). Unbundling of telecommunications networks is a means of allowing competitors to use parts of the network on a wholesale basis in order to build up a competitive offering of retail services.

The Commission commenced the investigations with the release of an Issues Paper entitled “Telecommunications Act 2001: Section 64 Reviews into unbundling the Local Loop Network and the fixed Public Data Network” and accompanying appendices on 10 April 2003.

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