Regulator pushes out copper line pricing deadline
By Paul McBeth
May. 22 (BusinessDesk) - The Commerce Commission has pushed out a deadline to set the regulated price Chorus can charge
to access services on its copper lines after accepting concerns raised by the retail companies.
The regulator is aiming to make a draft decision on the final pricing principle (FPP) for Chorus’s unbundled bitstream
access and unbundled copper local loop services by December, when the telecommunications network operator is expected to
adhere to the new regulated prices initially set by using international comparisons, with a view to make a final ruling
by April 1 next year, it said in a statement. Separately, Chorus said it was disappointed with the delay, which meant
the price set in the initial pricing principle would take effect from December.
"The telco retailers have all expressed serious concerns about their ability to engage effectively on the technical
complexities of the FPPs if consultation were confined to the period after a draft determination," the commission said.
"They have sought more rounds of consultation to allow them to assess and comment on the commission's assumptions in the
FPP modelling."
The telecommunications network operator sought the FPP process after the regulator set the UBA monthly price at $34.44
per line, up from the $32.35 price initially mulled in its draft decision. That was composed of $10.92 for UBA, which
facilitates internet services, and $23.52 for the UCLL, used for voice telephony. The UBA service allows internet
retailers to use Chorus’s components on the copper lines without having to replicate them.
The longer consultation process comes as Chorus appeals a High Court judgment upholding the commission's determination.
At the hearing earlier this year, Chorus claimed the regulator erred in law when setting the price Chorus can charge for
access to its UBA services in that it didn't have any evidential basis to narrow its inquiry and ignored a section of
the legislation aiming to support the government's goal of building a nationwide fibre network.
The commission rejected the claim, arguing that the change in regulation, rather than the decision, had shocked the
market.
Chorus shares rose 2.3 percent to $1.75 yesterday, and have climbed 22 percent this year after being punished in 2013
during the height of the regulatory uncertainty.
(BusinessDesk)