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| Why we're all feeling busy! |
| Posted Mon 29 June 2009 @ 3:31 p.m. by Ernie |
Tom Pullar-Strecker of the DomPost has compiled this list of the regulatory issues facing Telecom which he calls "Telecom's Seven Struggles." Its quite a perceptive analysis.
If Tom's predictions are right Telecom is in for something like one win and four losses, with two more too close to call.
So what about users? How will they fare if Tom is right?
RESALE - The Commission would be right to reject Telecom's request at this time especially with new entrants smarting at the setbacks around sub loop unbundling. Competition, and therefore users, are best served right now by the status quo. So if Tom's prediction is right, users should be happy.
LOYALTY DISCOUNTS - This is a tricky one - its debatable whether Telecom has been overly competitive or simply responded in a commercial way to a commercial challenge. On balance I agree with Tom that it was an unwise call to make, presumably without checking with the IOG or ComCom first. Clearly users will be better served by having a range of wholesale service providers, but I'm not sure whether Telecom's discounting has added to, or detracted from competition. Jury out pending more information.
VDSL2 - Its a different and better product to standard ADSL, but does that automatically mean it justifies a surcharge? Maybe it's just part of the constant improvement in the technology that users expect? My sense is that the benefit of the doubt on this one should go to the new entrants. That would assist in the diversification of the market and add to user choice.
MOBILE TERMINATION - Enough said. We'll know more tomorrow. But while Tom predicts more tantrums from telcos, I think there will come a point where they'll realise their position is unsustainable. And for the user, any intervention in this rort has to be a win.
MERITS REVIEWS - a kind of telco equivalent of the David Bain retrial but with a lot less at stake! Merits review would have the lawyers salivating in expectation! The focus should be not on a review process, but to get the Commission's work right first time, and I happen to think they are a very competent bunch who get it as right as it can be most times. So emphatically no to merits review - it would only add to the total cost of the process which users ultimately bear. Another win for users if Tom is right to say the Government won't play along.
TSO JUDICIAL REVIEW - Spare me this one! Remember the bad old days when Telecom claimed that one customer in every three was non-viable and the cost of servicing them all was around $400 million a year? Surely New Zealand has more for its economists to do at present than re-work this inherently imperfect exercise? The government should have the political courage to go back to first principles on the TSO, read the ample material that has been provided to it, and fix this long-festering sore. A judicial review would just chew up cost which would come back to users in increased phone bills.
ULTRAFAST BROADBAND - the government has the framework right and should not be diverted unduly by fundamental variants to this, lobbed into the process by self-serving vested interests. Telcos are very welcome as investors, but within the framework set by the government. Fortunately I am sure Telecom has a Plan B and will do very well out of the government's investment, but by working inside rather than outside the Minister's framework. Users will win under that scenario.
So if Tom Pullar-Strecker is right, and I think he's close, decisions are on the right track and users should be reasonably happy. |
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| Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | ISPs | Regulatory | TUANZ policy | Vendors | Wireless carriers |
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