Telcos' eleventh-hour pact on 0867 internet calling

By Richard Braddell

WELLINGTON - Telecom and Saturn Communications, the Wellington residential phone company, last night reached agreement on the transfer of 0867-prefixed internet calls between the two networks - just hours before Telecom's deadline for the introduction of 0867 came into effect.

The agreement, the first to be reached between carriers, was crucial for the transfer of 0867 calls from Telecom's Wellington customers using Paradise, the Saturn-based internet service provider (ISP).

Telecom said last week that calls would not be transferred either way between networks in the absence of an agreement. Non-Telecom ISPs had to decide between leaving their customers to pay Telecom the 2c a minute after the first 10 hours of monthly internet access, or moving to Telecom so they could use 0867 for local internet calls.

Saturn, with Clear and other carriers, has resisted an agreement because it would place the 0867 number range out of existing interconnection agreements.