KEY POINTS:
The agreement that keeps local phone calls free and some other telecommunications costs down is estimated to have cost $71.4 million in the 2004/05 financial year and $78.3 million in 2005/06.
The Commerce Commission today published the two figures -- its draft determinations of the cost of the telecommunications service obligations (TSO), the successor to the Kiwi Share arrangement.
The determinations are an assessment of the net cost Telecom incurs in meeting its TSO obligation to provide local residential telephone services.
Also covered by the TSO are the local residential telephone service rentals, rural residential line rentals and directory assistance.
Telecom is obligated to provide a service to residential customers who may not otherwise be provided with a service at an affordable price.
The Commerce Commission said Telecom carried 69 per cent of the TSO cost, with the remainder met primarily by Vodafone and TelstraClear.
Other companies meeting some of the cost for 2004/05 when finalised would be WorldxChange Communications, CallPlus, Compass Communications, Teamtalk and ihug, the commission said.
The 2005/06 TSO when finalised would be apportioned across the same parties as the previous year with the addition of Woosh Wireless.
The draft costs are broadly in line with cost of $64 million for 2003/04, with the rise mainly the result of increases in the cost of capital, the commission said.
Submissions on the draft determinations close on August 6.
- NZPA
