Telecom’s two-finger salute

MEDIA RELEASE
April 3, 2007

Telecom’s two-finger salute

Telecom’s statement that competitors will not have access to local loops until late 2008 is a two-finger salute to the Government and customers who are tired of waiting for a choice of telecommunications provider.

TelstraClear Chief Executive Allan Freeth says the comment in today's Herald by Telecom Wholesale’s Matt Crockett that “realistically, local loop unbundling is sixteen months away” shows the company has no intention of working to make competition a reality.

“They can create new wholesale units, they can tell us they ‘get it’ and they can claim they are working hard. But today’s comment shows it is little more than a front to further delay the delivery of new services to customers,” says Dr Freeth.

“We are one of the last countries in the world to adopt local loop unbundling. We can bring it to market quickly if we borrow from approaches used overseas, but Telecom is playing the slow game and claiming we need to reinvent the wheel.”

Dr Freeth says Telecom’s real agenda became clear when it refused to consider commercial negotiations for local loop access, citing ‘regulatory uncertainty’.

“We have asked Telecom to provide local loop access via commercial agreement before the regulated service is made available. Again, it happens overseas, but in New Zealand they are just not interested.”

Dr Freeth says one encouraging sign is the Commerce Commission’s decision to prioritise the standard terms process for local loop unbundling.

“We support the Commission putting its efforts into unbundling because it will allow competitors to do more for customers than improved bitstream services, although Telecom’s comments today suggest they will have a fight on their hands,” he says.

ENDS

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