No halt to internet charge protest

Columnist Geoff Palmer, who has campaigned against 0867 internet charges, is unimpressed by the Telecom-Clear agreement.

"I have no intention of switching to 0867 as I still consider the charges illegal under the Kiwi Share Agreement," he said.

"It seems like yet another case of Telecom forcing 0867 on to the public. My concern is that once 0867 is firmly in place then Telecom can start charging for it in the future as it won't be considered a local call."

Mr Palmer, who writes for PC World magazine, will contest extra Telecom internet charges on his phone bill at the Disputes Tribunal on July 11. His case was to have been heard today, but the action was cancelled after Telecom suspended the charges for one month.

"Presumably they are hoping that I will move over to 0867, but I am not going to," he said.

Meanwhile, Mike van Lokven, a Christchurch-based ClearNet user who is also taking Telecom to the Disputes Tribunal over $578.09 in internet charges, said he was considering dropping the action.

"The court date has been set for the end of next month so I'll see what happens before I decide," he said.

Mr van Lokven said he had not been advised of a replacement 0867 dial-up access number to ClearNet.