KEY POINTS:
The Commerce Commission has released draft plans to give rivals access to Telecom's new cabinets.
But the competitors are worried that Telecom's rapid deployment of cabinetisation will undermine their new-found access at exchanges.
Telecom is spending $1.4 billion in a three-year programme to bring fast broadband to areas more than 2-3km from phone exchanges. It is laying fibre-optic cables from the exchanges to cabinets nearer customers' homes,
After six months, Telecom is in 90 of its 3300 planned cabinet locations.
Exchanges in cabinetised areas will continue to serve consumers within 2-3km.
Telecommunications Commissioner Ross Patterson yesterday released terms for access to the Telecom cabinets and the lines from the cabinets - the unbundling of the sub-loop. The commission was always going to address the cabinet issue but is understood to have hastened the draft report due to industry concerns.
The determination suggests competitors should pay Telecom monthly rental charges of $11.99 per customer for urban areas and $22.14 for non-urban.
Telecom spokeswoman Melanie Marshall said the telco aimed to improve broadband speeds for 80 per cent of the country to 10 megabytes per second.
But competitors such as Call Plus and Vodafone are worried that the new cabinets will undermine their investment in exchanges.
Orcon was first company to use unbundled exchange services in March.
Vodafone - with its Red Network - and TelstraClear have revealed plans to take advantage of unbundling. But they are waiting to see how regulations play out for the unbundling of the access from cabinets to homes.
Cabinetisation to bring fast speeds closer to residential lines will move the battle lines for telco competition away from the exchanges to cabinets.
The Commerce Commission will decide the new shape of competition and will be closely scrutinised.
Patterson said the availability of space in cabinets was a key issue.
About half of the space in the first 90 of the 3300 proposed cabinets is held by Telecom, and Vodafone - which is planning big push into Telecom fixed lines - says there is only room for one other competitor to have their equipment in cabinets.
Telecom says that competitors can and do buy wholesale capacity from established exchanges.
"These rules are designed to prevent lack of cabinet space becoming a major barrier to competition in the telecommunications industry," Patterson said.
Vodafone says that the process for opening up cabinet space is slowing deployment of its Red Network.
A spokesman said cabinetisation also raised questions about the long term future of exchanges and competitors investing money in them.
Telecom shares closed up 3c yesterday at $3.15.
In the cabinet:
With the unbundling of the local loop, Telecom has had to open its phone exchanges so competitors can link their equipment to Telecom's copper wire lines, which lead to homes.
Under its $1.4 billion cabinetisation programme, Telecom is laying fibre optic cables from exchanges to cabinets closer to customers' homes, improving broadband speeds.
Competitors worry that having won a decade long battle for access to exchanges, Telecom is shifting the battle lines to its new cabinets.
Yesterday, the Commerce Commission issued draft plan to regulate access to the Telecom cabinets. It is called unbundling of the sub-loop.
