Commission to release telehone number decision on May 17
Published30 Apr 1999
The Commerce Commission will release its decision on the Telephone Number Administration Deed on Monday May 17.
The parties who have signed the Deed to date, Newcall Communications Limited, Teamtalk Limited, Telecom New Zealand Limited, Telstra New Zealand Limited and Vodafone New Zealand Limited, applied for authorisation of the Deed on January 22.
On March 22 the Commission issued a draft determination stating that, on information currently available, it would authorise the Deed. Interested parties made submissions on the draft determination and a conference was held on April 20-22. The Commission is now drawing together the information from its investigation, the submissions and the conference.
The Deed sets out principles for the administration of numbers, and a process to determine whether long-term number portability should be introduced. These principles have been chosen by the parties to the Deed.
However, the Deed also limits the ability of those firms which are not signatories to the Deed to obtain numbers. This would affect their ability to compete in various telecommunications markets. These firms will, however, be able in future to become signatories on the same terms and conditions.
The Commerce Act prohibits arrangements between competitors that prevent, restrict or limit the supply of services to another rival. However, it also allows an otherwise prohibited business practice to be authorised if the Commission is satisfied that its benefits outweigh its detriments.
