TelstraSaturn faces Commerce Commission probe

The Commerce Commission has to decide if TelstraSaturn's proposed acquisition of Clear Communications will lessen competition in the telecommunications sector, says Geoff Thorn, director of the commission's business competition branch.

"TelstraSaturn has elected to apply for clearance from the commission, so we will look at the markets relevant to the business and work with TelstraSaturn to see whether there's an issue.

"TelstraSaturn needs to provide quite a lot of information."

The process is supposed to take 10 working days, but can be extended by mutual agreement between the commission and the applicant, Thorn says.

Lodging a clearance application costs $2000 plus GST and an if an application is turned down, the applicant can appeal to the high court.