Competition plans don't go far enough to rein in 10 years of Telecom's monopoly

The Alliance says National's proposed changes to disclosure rules and the Commerce Act and Labour's competition policy are good moves that should have happened ten years ago, but will not go far enough to restrain Telecom's monopoly.

'Labour and National have finally got the message that Telecom needs to be restrained, unfortunately they have let them squeeze money out of New Zealand through their local line monopoly for the last ten years,' Alliance Commerce spokesperson Laila HarrT said.

'It i s interesting that National opposed my Members Bill in April this year that would have made similar changes to the Commerce Act as those announced by Max Bradford.

'Before deciding our positions on National's changes to the Commerce Act we want to know why he wants to make the legislation more complex rather than accepting simple changes proposed in my Members Bill earlier in the year.

'Making the Commerce Act more complex will just allow Telecom more scope! to keep their monopoly though costly and drawn out legal action.

'National's proposed changes are a last ditch attempt to regain some credibility in the telecommunications area. They cannot be taken seriously after the last nine years of inaction and especially when they are allowing Telecom to walk all over the Kiwishare with their 0867 internet access proposals.

'Labour's policy is a good start but it must go further.

'The Alliance has more specific proposals on Telecom and competition that will be released soon.

'We do not need more reviews to tell us that Telecom is effectively imposing a private monopoly tax on all NZ households and businesses. We do need action to stop it,' Laila Harre said.

© Scoop Media