The Commerce Commission today released its paper on the principles to be applied in setting the final discount for resale of Telecom New Zealand Limited's retail services under the Telecommunications Act 2001. The Commission is reviewing the discount it set for resale of business and residential services at the request of Telecom and TelstraClear Limited.

As part of its review, the Commission will calculate wholesale discounts based on two cost standards: one for price-capped services, and services sold in areas with effective competition, and the other for areas without effective competition. Both standards are based on the costs that are saved by Telecom when resellers perform all or some of the retailing function.

The paper outlines the Commission's views on these cost standards, taking into account submissions received from Telecom and TelstraClear. These views will form the basis of the Commission's draft Determination on the resale of Telecom's retail services.

The paper is available on the Commission's website, http://www.comcom.govt.nz/IndustryRegulation/Telecommunications/Wholesale/WholesalePricingReviews/telstraclearwholesalepricingreview.aspx