New Zealand First has accused Telecom of “bullying” tactics over it’s charging of Internet customers more for using local lines from 1 November 1999.

“To argue that the lines are overloaded because of it’s own promotional campaigns - and then to charge more is disingenuous,” said the Rt Hon Winston Peters MP.

“This is a clear example of an effective monopoly using market dominance to bully it’s retail customers.

“It demonstrates the failure of the New Zealand legal and regulatory regime to deliver the benefits of competition to the New Zealand consumer that the acolytes of free trade promised.

“It also demonstrates the failure of the Kiwi share in Telecom that the then Minister of State Owned Enterprises vowed would be cast in stone - as he took an axe to a piece of polystyrene.

“New Zealand First competition policy will be announced shortly. It will be pro-consumer, pro-business and pro-competition,” concluded Mr Peters.

ENDS

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