Commission confirms its approach to monitoring and enforcing non-discrimination and equivalence obligations.

The Commerce Commission has today released guidance about how it will monitor and enforce obligations on telecommunication network operators to offer fibre and other wholesale services to retailers on an equivalent and non-discriminatory basis.

The equivalence and non-discrimination obligations are fundamental principles of the new telecommunications regime.

The guidance is the product of extensive consultation and will help industry understand the Commission’s approach to these obligations when exercising its monitoring and enforcement powers.

“The release of this final guidance will provide the wider industry with clarity on obligations in undertakings given under the Telecommunications Act” Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson said.

“Local fibre companies (LFCs) must supply unbundled fibre products to retailers on a non-discriminatory and equivalent basis. Following a call for evidence in May, we are now looking into whether the non-price terms on which these products are offered meet this requirement.”

“We strongly encourage fibre providers to review their product offerings against the guidance we have issued and to make any changes necessary to bring them into compliance as quickly as possible”, Mr Gilbertson said.

“We also encourage retailers to raise issues with the LFCs where they believe the product offerings are not meeting the required obligations.”

The final guidance document is available on the Commission's website.

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