Broadband deals dearer, says Commission

Telecom's broadband plans are more expensive now than they were six months ago despite the company's attempt to convince customers otherwise, the Commerce Commission has found.

Telecom ran an advertising campaign leading up to the launch of its "faster and cheaper" broadband plans in April. But the commission found that despite lower base rates, the plans included reductions in "non-price terms" such as download limits.

While customers were charged a lower monthly access fee, they ultimately paid more through data usage. The value of the plans may not have "increased by the extent suggested by Telecom".

The commission yesterday set an unconstrained broadband wholesale price of $28.04 for CallPlus and ihug, which is higher than the $27.87 it granted TelstraClear for the same service in December last year.

The price is based on a retail-minus model, which takes the average cost of all Telecom's retail broadband plans and subtracts a suitable profit margin.