The Commerce Commission will be holding a series of conferences in September and October to seek clarification on aspects of the submissions made on recent draft determinations and investigations.

"The conferences are an important part of the Commission's information gathering process. The Commission is currently working on a wide range of new issues in telecommunications regulation, including standard terms determinations and whether to accept an undertaking in lieu of further regulation," said Dr Ross Patterson, Telecommunications Commissioner. "The conferences are a chance for the Commission to question the submitters and hear different perspectives that will inform final decisions."

The conferences will be held in the Commission's ground floor conference room located at 44-52 The Terrace, Wellington. They will start at 9.30am and finish at approximately 5.00pm each day.

  • 19 - 20 September 2007 - unbundled copper local loop service
  • 21 September - unbundled copper local loop co-location service
  • 4 October - mobile investigation
  • 18 - 19 October - unbundled bitstream access standard terms determinations

Only organisations that have made submissions are questioned, but observers are welcome to attend.

Background

Standard Terms Determination process under amended Telecommunications Act. In December 2006, the Telecommunications Act was amended to incorporate a process for the Commission to make a standard terms determination on which a designated access or specified service must be supplied by Telecom to all access seekers requesting the service. A standard terms determination is comprehensive enough and contains sufficient detail so that there is no need for an access seeker and Telecom to enter into a separate agreement for provision of the service. A standard terms determination includes non-price terms proposed by Telecom, usually in consultation with access seekers, and price terms for access to the service set by the Commission.

The STD process On 22 February 2007 the Commission initiated standard terms determination (STD) processes for the UCLL and UBA services. Since then the Commission has initiated STD processes for the UCLL co-location service and the UCLL backhaul and UBA backhaul services. Draft STDs for the UCLL and UCLL co-location services were released by the Commission on 31 July 2007 for comment. The closing date for submissions on the draft UBA determination is Wednesday, 26 September 2007. This will be followed by a period for cross-submissions. The Commission will then prepare a final determination. The STDs for the UCLL, UCLL co-location and UBA services are due to be finalised later this year. STDs for the two backhaul services are due to be finalised in 2008.

A brief overview of the key steps in a standard terms determination process is available on the Commission's web site www.comcom.govt.nz under Telecommunications - Standard Terms Determinations

More information, including the submissions, can be found on the Commission's website www.comcom.govt.nz