KEY POINTS:
The Commerce Commission has announced the start of another of the moves being taken in an attempt to increase telecommunications competition.
The commission said today it had initiated the processes for determining standard terms of access for the backhaul services supporting Telecom's unbundled copper local loop and bitstream services.
Backhaul services are another part of the link through Telecom's network between competitors and their customers.
Standard terms determinations would ensure that the necessary backhaul services were in place to support the unbundled local loop and bitstream services, enabling companies to offer functions such as Voice Over internet Protocol (VOIP) and high speed broadband, the commission said.
A date had yet to be set for a scoping workshop, but it would probably be held in May.
After that workshop, Telecom will be required to submit a standard terms proposal for each backhaul service, setting out the non-price terms of access to each backhaul service.
The commission would be responsible for determining the main price of access for each service.
In February the commission started standard terms determination processes for Telecom's unbundled copper local loop service and unbundled bitstream access service.
A process for the unbundled copper local loop co-location service started in March.
- NZPA
