This was sent to an acquaintance of mine and forwarded to me for
laughter value.
This message had no confidential statement attached, so one assumes that
it's open and can be distributed to the recipient wanted to.
I hear actually on the Radio this morning that TelstraClear is off to
the Commerce Commission.
It will be good to track the outcome of that..
-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Phillippa Fox
To: jo(a)archnetnz.com
Subject: UBS
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 09:37:53 +1300
COM04-05/66
Jo Smith
jo(a)archnetnz.com
Dear Jo Smith
Thank you for your email of 17 September 2004 regarding the roll-out of
Telecom's unbundled bitstream service (UBS). In particular, your concerns
relate to the delay of the provision of this service to the market.
In addressing this issue it is important to distinguish between the
regulated UBS and the Telecom's commercial UBS.
Access to a regulated UBS and corresponding backhaul service to be provided
by Telecom was passed into law on 2 September 2004. Under the
Telecommunications Act 2001, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is entitled
to apply to the Commerce Commission for a determination of the price and
terms and conditions of an Internet grade UBS (with a minimum downstream
speed of 256 Kbps) where the applicant is unable to commercially negotiate
a satisfactory arrangement. As of today no ISP has applied to the
Commission for such a determination.
Alongside the regulated UBS, Telecom has on its own initiative offered a
commercial UBS to market. The delays to which you refer are in relation to
this voluntarily-provided service. The terms of Telecom's commercial UBS
are available from Telecom.
I understand that Telecom's commercial UBS promised by September has been
delayed. Telecom says this is due to a "technical problem" which may take
six months to resolve. Given ISPs have invested in marketing products
dependent on this service, in the expectation that Telecom would deliver to
its announced timeframe, I am concerned about the very short notice Telecom
provided to these ISPs of the delay. However, I reiterate, this relates to
Telecom's commercial UBS and not the regulated UBS. If an ISP cannot
satisfactorily negotiate a commercial UBS, they should apply to the
Commission for a determination to provide access to the regulated UBS.
You also expressed concern that Telecom is able to advertise its commercial
products while Telecom is not providing the service "it has been ordered"
to provide and that Telecom is forcing customers into six month contracts
preventing them from moving to other cheaper providers. As I explain
above, Telecom is not under a legal obligation to provide the service that
has been delayed. However, I encourage ISPs to apply for the regulated
service if they are not satisfied with the commercial UBS offer. In regard
to fixed term offers it is recommended consumers consider the range of
offerings in the marketplace before committing to a specific fixed term.
Given experiences to date under the Telecommunications Act 2001, I consider
that there is potential to make improvements for the more timely
achievement of the Act's objective ? the promotion of competition for the
long term benefit of end users of telecommunications services. On October
11 2004 I announced a review of the Telecommunications Act 2001. Amongst
other things, the review will look at improving the speed of resolution of
key terms and conditions for supply of regulated services, including
monitoring and enforcement issues, and improving the certainty and speed of
processes for adding or altering regulated services. I intend to release a
discussion paper in November for comment from interested parties.
Yours sincerely
Hon Paul Swain
Minister of Communications
--
Chris Hodgetts
