Commerce Commission releases draft review of unbundled local loop backhaul services
Published06 Aug 2010
The Commerce Commission today released a draft report on its review of where Telecom faces competition in the provision of backhaul services for the unbundled copper local loop.
The Commerce Commission today released a draft report on its review of where Telecom faces competition in the provision of backhaul services for the unbundled copper local loop. Backhaul is the final link connecting competitors to Telecom's local loop, so those competitors can provide communication services such as voice and broadband to households. Backhaul is only regulated where Telecom faces limited competition.
Backhaul services provide Telecom's competitors with access to transmission capacity on specific routes between Telecom's local exchanges and the competitors' networks.
The draft review decision concludes that on two further links Telecom is subject to competition from other providers of backhaul services. On these links, backhaul will no longer be a regulated service.
Because a number of Telecom's exchanges have been unbundled since the last review, the draft review decision also assesses 25 links for the first time. On all of these links the Commission has found no evidence that Telecom is subject to competition from other providers of backhaul services and these links will therefore be available as regulated backhaul services.
Interested parties have an opportunity to make submissions on the Commission's draft report by 5pm on Friday 13 August 2010. Submissions can be sent to telco@comcom.govt.nz
After considering submissions, the Commission expects to release the final review report and give public notice of the result of the review by the end of August 2010.
Local loop. The unbundled copper local loop network service (local loop) refers to the service that enables access to, and interconnection with, Telecom's copper local loop network. It allows telecommunications companies to supply voice and broadband services to retail customers without the need to replicate the local loop.
Backhaul. The unbundled copper local loop network backhaul (telephone exchange to interconnect point) service (backhaul) provides transmission capacity in Telecom's network between the handover point in Telecom's local telephone exchange and the access seeker's nearest available point of interconnection, for the purpose of providing access to, and interconnection with, Telecom's local loop.
In June 2008 the Commission released the unbundled copper local loop backhaul standard terms determination, which set out which backhaul routes were subject to regulation, as well as the terms and conditions governing the supply of the backhaul service on those routes.
The current review looks at a number of routes and examines whether there is actual or potential competition to Telecom on those routes. Where the Commission finds that a route is competitive, it will not be subject to regulation. By contrast, routes where Telecom is found to face limited competition will be regulated. Regulation means that the terms and conditions of the Commission's backhaul decision will apply upon the Access Seeker's request. The details of which routes were looked at as part of the review are available in the draft review report.
