Government policy U-turn good for Chorus shareholders, bad for consumers
7 August 2013 - Media Release
InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc) says "Chorus shareholders will be the winners from the proposals outlined in
today’s discussion paper. Consumers will be the losers."
InternetNZ Chief Executive Jordan Carter made the comment in response to today's release by Hon Amy Adams of a
discussion document on the review of the Telecommunications Act 2001.
“The underlying policy tension is concern about the prospects for the Ultra-fast Broadband Initiative’s success. The UFB
was designed with a simple policy framework in mind: a fibre network overbuilding and competing with the existing copper
network,” Carter says.
"The UFB rollout of fibre broadband is guaranteed by the contracts signed in setting it up. Relative prices between
fibre and copper don't affect the obligations on Chorus and others to roll out the UFB on time and to schedule. Nothing
in the discussion document says why any of the fibre network providers need more money to complete the UFB, yet the
effect of today's discussion paper is to deliver money out of consumers' pockets and into Chorus's bottom line.
"Options for copper pricing in the discussion document would all boost prices higher than what is likely under today's
regulatory regime. The argument for doing so - that copper prices should match fibre prices - simply does not stand up
to scrutiny. The argument would only apply if the government's policy changed so that the fibre network was replacing
the copper network rather than competing with it.
“If that fundamental policy has changed, the discussion document doesn’t acknowledge it.
Attempting to give the illusion of competition while effectively cross-subsidising fibre from copper is a recipe for
disaster that will only benefit Chorus shareholders at the expense of copper
customers.https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/images/cleardot.gif
"Further, the document suggests prices for fibre broadband were set by commercial negotiation between the Crown and
providers in return for a $1.35bn investment. The prices don't reflect the cost of fibre broadband services. They
reflect a commercial deal.
"To match copper pricing - a totally different technology which is already built - with those fibre prices beggars
belief. Logic says the cost of copper broadband should be based on what *copper* costs - not what a different technology
costs.
A wide range of matters are canvassed in the 77 page discussion document, but the main focus is on copper pricing
matters.
"We will be analysing the detail of the proposals set out in the discussion document and commenting further in the
coming days. A wider debate needs to kick off about whether the focus is right; the principles set out are carried
through into the options; whether there are other items that should be dealt with in phase one.
"InternetNZ will convene forums for all those interested to discuss the options set out. A well-informed set of
submissions will help the Government design the best possible legislation.
"For now, the story is that the proposals the document sets out will see most broadband users paying higher prices than
they need to," Jordan Carter says.
ENDS