The Government uses the annual levy to pay for telecommunications infrastructure and services which are not commercially viable including the relay service for the deaf and hearing-impaired, broadband for rural areas, and improvements to the 111 emergency service.

The levy, about 1% of telecommunications services revenue, is paid by providers earning more than $10 million per year from operating a public telecommunications network, including providing internet, mobile, and data services to consumers.

Spark, Vodafone, Chorus, and 2degrees will collectively pay more than 90% of the $50 million levy. Voyager and MyRepublic will be liable for the TDL for the first time this year due to their growing revenues.

There has been a minor change to the Commission’s draft decision released in October, with an adjustment made to MyRepublic’s qualified revenue calculation which has increased its contribution. The remaining 16 providers have seen their allocations marginally reduce as a result of this increase.

A copy of the final determination can be found here.

Background

The Telecommunications Development Levy (TDL) was established by legislation in June 2011 and is set at $50 million a year until 2019. The Commission is required to prepare an annual TDL liability allocation determination in accordance with the Telecommunications Act 2001. The legislation requires a draft determination to be prepared and for submissions to be allowed on the draft before a final determination is prepared.

Voyager and MyRepublic qualify for the TDL as their telecommunications revenues now each exceed $10 million. REANNZ will no longer be liable to contribute to the TDL following a High Court decision that it operates a private telecommunications network.

More information on the TDL is available on our website.