Decision to go was my own, says commissioner

Douglas Webb

Telecommunications Commissioner Douglas Webb denies being pushed out of the job despite being the target of the Prime Minister's criticism over his performance.

Webb was countering National Party MP Maurice Williamson's suggestions yesterday to the contrary but confirmed he would not be seeking reappointment when his five-year term ends next March.

The country's first Telecommunications Commissioner was charged with reviewing the industry, recommending regulatory change and creating peace between warring internet and phone providers.

But he came in for trenchant criticism from Helen Clark's office when he recommended the unbundling of the local loop in 2003 - only to reverse that decision three months later in the September.

Helen Clark has been reported as saying the Government was "absolutely flabbergasted" at the u-turn. She has also expressed disappointment with Webb's inability to lower mobile phone costs.

However, Webb was adamant yesterday the Government had not forced his hand.

"There hasn't been any pressure on me at all to resign. We could hardly do our job if we are going to be pushed around. We get criticism from time to time, it's in the job description but you can't be influenced by it. I approached the ministry about resigning."

Webb would not divulge why he was leaving, but said he was appointed for the five-year term and had made no decisions about the future.

He said the Government would have to handle the appointment of a new commissioner "very carefully". The new commissioner would have to be "sure of themselves and stand on the decisions they made".

Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand chief executive Ernie Newman said the sheer volume of work facing the new commisioner was daunting.

"Basically she or he will have a year to do what it has taken five years for other countries to do."

This included pricing determinations on unbundling the local loop, naked DSL and unbundled bitstream, and overseeing the improvement of technical standards in the industry.

But the new commissioner would be empowered by the Telecommunications Act due to be finalised by the end of the year.

Newman said Webb had done a "workmanlike job" in a professional manner despite not making good decisions sometimes.

"We still do not understand what caused the commission in September 2003 to reverse its decision on unbundling. But we need to stand back from that decision, and look at what a solid and strong position he built up and go forward from there."

IDC analyst Chris Loh said Webb's "experience and penetrating discernment of the telco sector ... will be hard to replace".

CallPlus chief executive Martin Wylie said the new legislation would require a strong, well-resourced Commerce Commission if it were to carry out its pivotal role.

"It's a bit like the All Blacks changing their first five a month before the World Cup begins."

Webb said he was pleased with the progress of communication between industry players who had now started to talk to each other "less from the bunker and more in the living room".

And he is hoping to bed down the mobile review, which included a decision about termination rates, before March 2007.


Better broadband uptake 'needs work'

The scene is set for New Zealand to improve its poor ranking in the OECD for broadband uptake but much more needs to be done, outgoing Telecommunications Commissioner Douglas Webb says.

The country is ranked 22nd out of the 30 OECD countries for broadband uptake.

Communications Minister David Cunliffe has said this is not sustainable for a small country and the aim was to have New Zealand reach the average OECD rate of broadband uptake by 2010 and be in the top quarter of countries by 2015.

But Webb said yesterday a huge amount of work still needed to be done.

"Getting to the next level is going to be hard," he said.

The Commerce Commission had put in place regulatory changes which set the conditions for faster broadband uptake.

"But there needs to be a lot of execution to achieve the goal, including investment by multiple players, and the right price points which will attract consumers to buy services."

OECD measurements are based on the number of broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants in member countries.

New Zealand had 8.1, behind Portugal at 11.5 and ahead of Ireland at 6.7. Iceland passed South Korea to take top position at 26.7 at the end of 2005 while Australia maintained its 17th position with 13.8. The OECD average was 11.7.