Telecom tinkering angers rivals

By Richard Braddell

WELLINGTON - Telecom's scheme to rejig connection arrangements for Internet service providers is set to produce another high-voltage row.

The company's rivals say the move is merely a unilateral reworking of an unfavourable result from Telecom's interconnection deals.

Telecom said yesterday that it was making the changes because rising Internet use - at present averaging 23.5 hours a month per subscriber - compromised its network's ability to deliver voice and emergency calls.

In response, it plans to force customers to use a new 0867 code that gives access to an alternative network, by charging 2c a minute for each dial-up local Internet call to competing Internet service providers.

The move seems likely to end up in the courts alongside a recent rebilling dispute between Telecom and Telstra.

But, while competing carriers question the legality under the Kiwi share of charging for local calls, they are just as incensed at Telecom's contention that the new free 0867 access code to its "intelligent network" is outside interconnection agreements because they do not cover new number ranges.

"It is a blatantly transparent attempt to avoid paying interconnection when it suits them," said the chief executive of Saturn Communications, Jack Matthews.

A spokesman for the Minister of Communications, Maurice Williamson, said the minister would "look at the implications of the Kiwi share obligation in depth."

Asked about possible court action, the carrier most vulnerable to the change, Clear Communications, said it was still considering its options.