Commerce Commission - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Commission: Telecom’s broadband claims ‘bogus’

  A new report published by the Commerce Commission says Telecom’s claim that unconstrained broadband will lead to a loss of service for tens of thousands of customers is bogus.

• Vodafone offers to reduce mobile termination rates

  Vodafone is trying to head off regulation of the mobile market with a last-ditch offer to the government.

• Telcos charge less than wholesale for mobile calls

  Telecom and Vodafone have slammed the Commerce Commission’s proposed mobile termination rates (MTR) regulation as flawed and pointless. However, it appears that both telcos already charge overseas providers less than the going wholesale termination rates in New Zealand, something the Commission did not consider before sending off its MTR report to communications minister David Cunliffe.

• Telecom throws rural toys out of cot

  Even before ICT Minister David Cunliffe’s announcement of the regulatory package, including local loop unbundling, Telecom had started to scale back on investments in broadband for the rural sector, according to Simon Moutter, chief operating officer of Telecom.

• ComCom investigates faster, cheaper broadband

  The Commerce Commission is investigating a complaint over Telecom’s “Faster, Cheaper Broadband” advertising campaign.

• ISPs penalised for seeking regulated service

  The Commerce Commission is looking into whether Telecom is charging ISPs Ihug and CallPlus more for their wholesale products because they are seeking a determination on a different plan.

• How Telecom won the broadband war

  Telecom has comprehensively lost the recent PR battle and its share price dipped substantially in the process. The stock market didn’t falter, it didn’t fail and bankers weren’t seen throwing themselves into the streets of Wellington as a result.

• TelstraClear deal a big win for Telecom, says analyst

  The wholesale deal between Telecom and TelstraClear last week is seen by financial analysts Macquarie Equities as a big win for Telecom, suggesting the government will back away from changes to the regulatory environment as a consequence.

• Go ahead for mobile termination rates regulation

  The Commerce Commission is sticking to its guns about regulating mobile termination rates (MTRs), the per-minute charges Telecom and Vodafone charge other telcos for for landing calls on their networks, in a draft report to David Cunliffe, the minister of communications.

• ComCom RUBS Telecom up the wrong way

  After over a year of bureacratic and legal wrangling, the Commerce Commission has issued its final determination on TelstraClear’s application for a Regulated Unbundled Bitstream Service (RUBS).

• Telecom claims Commission pricing model is ‘unlawful’

  Telecom is rattling the sabre in the battle with the Commerce Commission over proposed changes to the broadband wholesale regime — and is threatening to cease investing in rural New Zealand.

• Provisioning problems provoke law change

  The caretaker Labour government says it will act on the issue of UBS provisioning if it is able to form a government.

• ISPs 'go in to bat for consumers'

  The Internet Service Providers Association of New Zealand (ISPANZ) has finally incorporated as a society several months after its formation and says it is making headway in providing better value internet service.

• 3G or not 3G

  'We definitely have a 3G network,' protests Telecom

• Commerce Commission tinkers with telco charging regime

  The devil's in the details, however, warns Telecom