0867 net access a dodge says Clear

By RICHARD BRADDELL

WELLINGTON - The head of Telecom's networks from 1996 to 1998, Ken Benson, has rejected the company's justification for introducing 0867 internet access as disingenuous, saying the real reason is to sidestep interconnection payments to Clear.

The introduction of 0867 could potentially cost Clear millions if Telecom no longer pays termination fees on calls to Clear Net.

Mr Benson, who is now head of Clear Communications' network, rejected Telecom's explanation for 0867 offered at a briefing last week.

"We are asked to accept that 0867 is designed to protect the network by restricting internet calls at times of outages and emergencies. Even if you accept that assertion, anyone who understands Telecom's network knows there are far better ways of managing demand."

Mr Benson said Telecom had shifted from its original explanation that 0867 was needed to protect 111 calls because it had been quickly shown to be wrong.

"111 calls have their own dedicated trunk capacity, quite separate from the trunk lines used for internet service providers and voice calls.

"The use of 0867 is also likely to cause more repeat call attempts, increase congestion at the local exchange and therefore put 111 calls at greater risk."

Responding to Mr Benson, Telecom's Government and industry relations manager, Bruce Parkes, said internet traffic had at least doubled since Mr Benson had left Telecom, and his knowledge of how 0867 worked was incomplete and out of date.

"It is ironic that British Telecom, Mr Benson's [one-time] employer, has recently set up two specific number ranges, both starting with 08 to manage internet traffic," Mr Parkes said.

Telecom said 0867 internet call management had already proved its worth in a number of recent network incidents.

Industry services acting manager Lia Boersma said 0867 was able to automatically reduce calls to 600 a minute after they jumped from 200 to 3000 during one incident as computers began "attack dialling" when they failed to make a connection.