KEY POINTS:
The Government is poised to force a restructuring on Telecom that would split the company into three divisions, all with separate management, The Dominion Post reported today.
The so-called operational break-up, into retail, wholesale and network arms, would be more radical than a requirement contained in the Telecommunications Amendment Bill for separate accounts from the divisions.
The split also goes well beyond Telecom's counter-offer to divide its operations into two companies, retail and wholesale, the latter including its network.
The revamp of Telecom would stop short of ownership separation.
The newspaper said Telecom was lobbying hard to remove stronger measures which would give the Government the power to force an ownership split into three "baby Telecoms" if the operational split did not meet expectations.
Parliament's finance and expenditure select committee is considering the bill - which also includes plans to open up Telecom's network to competition - and is due to report back by early December.
- NZPA
