Maori could leave us captive to Telecom

By Keith Newman

Between the lines

Maori claims to the ownership of management rights for an important set of voice and data frequencies should have been sorted and settled well before the Ministry of Commerce scheduled this month's auction.

Maori want "at least 50 per cent" of what is on offer in the 2GHz radio spectrum and if successful are likely to extend their claims to other portions of the airwaves, including frequencies set aside for digital television.

Activist Rangiho Everton and her barrister, Maui Solomon, say the Crown has ignored Waitangi Tribunal recommendations, and that the cabinet dismissed a call by the Ministry of Maori Affairs (Te Puni Kokiri) to allocate half the spectrum to Maori.

The tribunal granted urgency for a hearing, which began yesterday, where a buried report commissioned by Te Puni Kokiri, and obtained through the Official Information Act, is to be made public.

The move has the backing of the New Zealand Maori Council among others who want the frequencies for distance education and medicine, communication into rural areas and provision of information technology and data services for Maori.

The timing is impeccable. Next generation wireless and cellular technology is reaching a point where telephone companies and Internet providers can no longer ignore it.

Telecom knows it must move a step up on the digital ladder if it wants to remain compatible and competitive. It and other players are likely to take a strong interest in the Internet-based auction scheduled for March 29.

At last here is a chance to break Telecom's stranglehold on the "last mile" from the exchange to the customer. Conversely, the same old carriers could acquire and hoard the frequencies to stall competition with their current line of business.

And now there is the Maori agenda to complicate things.

The Ministry of Commerce is ploughing ahead regardless. If the Waitangi Tribunal decides there is a case to answer, it has only two days after the hearing to complete its report and rustle up the ministerial and legal clout before the hammer starts going down in cyberspace.

Free-to-air broadcasters recently went cap in hand to the Government asking for free spectrum to be set aside, so they could make the transition to digital television.

Fat chance. In August they will still have to pay an average market price.

To date, Maori have managed to acquire some radio and television frequencies, but attempts to get a slice of the latest offering could capsize chances for all of us to see true competition in local services and effectively condemn us to more of the same.

Unless, of course, Maori intend to use any potential acquisition to go up against Telecom.

While opportunities for public discussion and submissions on spectrum auctions have been ample this past year, the Government has been remiss if it has ignored parallel appeals from its Treaty partners without considering the consequences.