The Commerce Commission is seeking views on a legal opinion regarding proposals by Chorus which will affect its regulated UBA service. Chorus has proposed, in conjunction with new commercial offerings, changes to the regulated service including a cap constraining data throughput to the current average.   

The Commission has sought advice from external legal counsel following a request from Spark to investigate whether the proposed changes are a breach of the UBA standard terms determination. The legal opinion suggests that the proposed changes would likely breach the UBA STD, in particular Chorus’s good faith obligations and the purpose of the Telecommunications Act.

Views from parties on the legal advice are sought by 5pm on 18 September 2014. The advice can be found on the New UBA Variants page. Views should be sent to telco@comcom.govt.nz.