Five exchanges unbundled by Christmas
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Posted Mon 25 June 2007 @ 7:24 p.m. by Sarah Putt
Telecom Wholesale GM Matt Crockett says the company hopes to have five exchanges unbundled by Christmas. Speaking during a panel discussion at the Conferenz Telecommunications and ICT Summitt, Crockett says that - assuming the Commerce Commission rules on the Standard Termination Determation (STDs) in November - the first exchanges will be ready to go in December.
“The top priority is getting services to market,” Crockett says.
After the panel discussion, I caught up with Crockett, who says they can't confirm the unbundling programme until next month. However it is Telecom Wholesale's intention that Naked DSL be offered in September and fully unbundled exchanges in December.
The comprehensive STD that Telecom filed with the Commerce Commission had the first exchanges unbundled 65 days after the Commission’s determination, and a further 14 months before all 40 exchanges are unbundled. However Crockett made it clear during the panel discussion that this is a baseline, and the company is working to beat that programme.
He says the key questions for Telecom are pricing incentive and loop shortening or fibre to the node and what this will mean for LLU investment.
ISPANZ president David Diprose told Summit delegates that the first trials for unbundling exchanges are set to take place next month. He says if Telecom can offer unbundled exchanges by Christmas, this would be ambitious in terms of the international experience of LLU.
Crockett says exactly which five exchanges are to be unbundled will be largely determined by the industry and Telecom Wholesale has already completed audits of 20 sites.
Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Regulatory