KEY POINTS:
The Commerce Commission is to investigate whether mobile termination access services should be regulated.
The services are the terms and conditions under which mobile phone companies terminate calls and text messages from other networks on their networks, enabling mobile phone users to receive calls and text messages from different phone networks.
The commission today said it would look at whether mobile termination access services - incorporating mobile-to-mobile voice termination, fixed-to-mobile voice termination and short-message-service termination - should become regulated services.
Telecommunications Users Association (TUANZ) chief executive Ernie Newman said the organisation was "utterly frustrated" at the time the issue had been around.
It was also frustrated at the "discord on this matter between the commission and the Government, and the consequent excessive cost passed onto business and residential users over many years".
TUANZ asked the commission as far back as June 2003, to investigate what appeared to be pricing many times higher than other countries, Mr Newman said.
"These termination charges flow directly into the price of calls to mobiles from both fixed and mobile phones. This mounts up to a huge cost to users in the course of a year, especially business users who make many calls every day."
Commission chairwoman Paula Rebstock said current international benchmarks for cost-based mobile termination rates (MTR) indicated the prevailing MTRs in New Zealand were likely to be significantly above the cost of providing the service.
In addition to the investigation announced today, the commission is also considering if there are reasonable grounds to investigate whether the national mobile roaming service should be subject to price regulation.
Roaming allows subscribers of one mobile network to use their mobile telephone handset on a different mobile network to make and receive calls.
As a result, a new entrant to the market would be able to offer nationwide services while it builds its own network.
"These processes reflect the priority that the commission places on the mobile market, along with the broadband market, and the potential for benefits to consumers from increased competition," Ms Rebstock said.
"Our recent monitoring has shown improvements in telecommunications services as a result of increased competition, and we look forward to seeing similar improvements in the mobile market."
- NZPA
