Short of broadband target

The Commerce Commission yesterday confirmed that Telecom must meet a target of 83,000 wholesale broadband subscribers by the end of year to stave off regulation of its fast internet services.

Reporting its first quarter results yesterday, Telecom said it passed the "self-imposed" target of 250,000 residential broadband customers two months ahead of schedule.

The company said it now had 47,000 residential broadband customers through wholesale deals with other companies and maintained it was on track to meet a target that 30 per cent of residential customers added since November last year must be via wholesale.

But others, including rival TelstraClear, believed Telecom was obligated to secure one-third of the 250,000 total under wholesale arrangements.

Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung said yesterday that target was "a misinterpretation that was easy to make".

However, Telecommunications Commissioner Douglas Webb said: "Telecom has been clearly informed that the target of 250,000 residential broadband connections monitored by the commission require that more than a third of those connections will be resold Jetstream products or wholesaled bitstream services."

Webb said the commission confirmed this in February.

Nevertheless, Telecom is sticking to its guns.