Regulator seeks industry views on Chorus line price, suggests speedier process, backdating final price

The Commerce Commission is consulting with the telecommunications industry over what price Chorus can charge rivals to access its copper telephone lines, suggesting a review process could be accelerated and the final price backdated.

The Commerce Commission is reviewing the price by building a full cost model on Chorus's unbundled local loop, which lets retailers rent the lines for voice and broadband services. That differs from the unbundled bitstream access services, currently in dispute, which lets retailers use Chorus's software and electronics to supply broadband services without having to build their own.

The process is complex and can take years and the regulator is seeking industry views on whether a shorter process may be desirable even if it involves trade-offs, regulation manager John Hamill said in a statement.

The regulator is also seeking views on whether it should backdate the final price, which is favoured by the Court of Appeal.

The Commission is holding an informal industry workshop this month to work through some of the key issues, it said.

Chorus sought the final pricing principle after the regulator set the geographically averaged price at $23.52 per month per line. The change was the result of the regulator adopting a new methodology to set the prices after Chorus was spun out of Telecom in 2011.

(BusinessDesk)

RAW DATA: Commerce Commission releases consultation document for reviewing the price of Chorus’ Unbundled Copper Local Loop Service

The Commerce Commission has today released a consultation document for the Final Pricing Principle (FPP) of Chorus’ Unbundled Copper Local Loop (UCLL) Service.

This paper seeks views on the process that the Commission should take, as well as some of the key issues to address in setting the final price for the UCLL Service using the TSLRIC methodology. The UCLL service enables telecommunications providers to rent Chorus’ copper telephone lines to provide voice and broadband services to consumers.

The Commission received applications to review the price in accordance with the FPP from Chorus NZ Ltd, Telecom NZ Ltd, Callplus Ltd, Kordia Ltd and Vodafone NZ Ltd. It is now a requirement under the Telecommunications Act 2001 to review the price of the UCLL Service by building a full cost model.

“We are interested in views about the timetable for this process,” said Commerce Commission Regulation Manager John Hamill.

“International experience suggests that the TSLRIC modelling process can take some years. Building a TSLRIC model is a complex task and we are aware that there are likely to be a wide range of views on the most appropriate way to apply the methodology,” said Mr Hamill.

“However, we are interested in whether there are circumstances in New Zealand in which a shorter process might be feasible or desirable. This suggests that submitters should consider the trade-offs that may be involved in a shorter process.”

Another issue the Commission is seeking feedback on is the possible backdating of the reviewed price on completion of the process.