KEY POINTS:
The Commerce Commission has reduced its estimate of the cost to Telecom of providing local services to non-viable residential customers in 2005/06 by $13.6 million.
A fortnight ago it similarly reduced the cost for the 2004/05 draft of the so-called telecommunication service obligations (TSO) determination, previously called the Kiwi Share.
The reductions in the TSO estimates were made after the commission concluded it should no longer introduce mobile technologies into the TSO modelling process.
That reduced Telecom's investment risk associated with supplying the TSO, resulting in the decrease in the TSO cost, the commission said.
The Government has announced a review of the TSO process, which is unpopular among many players in the telecommunications industry.
The draft TSO determination for 2005/06 is now $64.6m. For the previous year it is $57.3m, down from $71.4m in the initial draft.
Telecom bears 69 per cent of the TSO cost, with the remainder carried primarily by Vodafone and TelstraClear.
- NZPA
