The government acknowledges receipt of the draft report from the Ministerial Inquiry into Telecommunications, and welcomes the fact that the report is being circulated for further consultation.

Submissions on the draft report are due with the inquiry team by 24 July. The public will then have until 9 August to make "cross" submissions. Public hearings will then start on 14 August.

Communications Minister Paul Swain and Acting Communications Minister (with responsibility for spectrum) Trevor Mallard said that at this stage, the government did not wish to comment on specific recommendations of the draft report, but did agree that the range of recommendations foreshadowed by the inquiry were all live issues.

"We will wait for the final report before carefully considering our response and any follow-up action," Paul Swain said.

"The final report is due to be with me by the end of September," he said.

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