TelstraClear seeks the real price

TelstraClear has asked the Telecommunications Commissioner to give long-term certainty by calculating the precise cost of interconnecting with Telecom's network.

TelstraClear chief executive Rosemary Howard says the rate of 1.13c a minute given last week was an interim one - an approximate price based on international benchmarking.

"The commission noted the international median for interconnect is 0.66c a minute and 0.9c in Australia," she said.

"We expect the price resulting from a modelling exercise would be lower than in Australia and other countries where it costs more to operate a telecommunications network."

The Telecommunications Act envisages a two-part process to establish the cost of interconnection - an interim rate followed by a final rate based on a more comprehensive process of economic modelling.

The commission can take the second step only if asked to do so by one of the parties.

Howard said the interim rate applied for only a year and TelstraClear wanted to avoid uncertainty about rates in future negotiations with Telecom.

Telecom said its rival's "obsession with regulation and litigation" was getting out of hand.

"They're clogging up the new regulatory regime with pointless actions that we were happy to resolve through negotiation," said Bruce Parkes, Telecom's general manager of Government and industry relations.

The Commerce Commission said the pricing review would examine the forward-looking costs of providing interconnection services in New Zealand.

It had given a copy of the application to Telecom, and would seek its comment on the application.

- NZPA