The Alliance is claiming that the lack of action on the breach of the Kiwishare and private meetings between the
government and Telecom show that the government is preparing to give way to Telecom - again.
'Despite a legal opinion from the Crown Law office saying that Telecom is in breach of the Kiwishare with it's plans to
charge for its competitor's internet services the government has no will to stop it,' Laila Harre said.
'Today under questioning in parliament the government refused to stand by the Crown Law Office opinion that Telecom was
breaching the Kiwishare. They also confirmed that there had been top level political meetings with Telecom to discuss
the issue.
'This comes on the same day as reports that Rod Deane has been pressuring Senior Ministers to water down proposed
competition legislation.
'Yesterday Bill Birch said that the Kiwishare doesn't apply to the internet, today he says the government is still
considering the issue.
'What is taking so long? Telecom was to implement this decision on the 1st of August. The government knew about this
decision before Telecom announced it and at that time thew Ministry of Commerce alerted the government to a possible
breach of the Kiwishare.
'It is now as clear as day that this government is not prepared to regulate Telecom. They have an appalling track record
and have no plans to tackle Telecom's growing monopoly.
'Telecom is thinking of floating its Internet Service Provider (ISP) XTRA which it says is worth $1 billion. It also
says that XTRA is one of the only ISPs in the world that is making money.
'It is only making money because it is backed up by Telecom's local line monopoly and this government's unwillingness to
create a fair competitive environment.
'Only the Alliance has a clear policy of regulating Telecom and has consistently been against their monopolistic
behaviour. It is becoming increasingly clear that the only wa! y we can have a fair competitive telecommunications
system ! is to get rid of this government,' Laila Harre said.