Editorial
Goodbye Monopoly -- Hello Cartel?
Clear have kicked the ball fairly and squarely into Telecom's court this week by writing to Theresa "you're all freeloaders" Gatung and suggesting that the two parties get together to kick off a renegotiation of the interconnect agreement set to expire at the end of this year.

This is a tactically brilliant move on the part of Clear, since Telecom's position has never been weaker.

The success and popularity of the small number of free ISPs that are drawing their revenues from the existing interconnect deal obviously represent a not insignificant liability on Telecom's books and the prospect of an eventual ruling by both the Commerce Commission and a parliamentary inquiry (I should live so long) means that there must be a lot of pressure to settle a deal quickly.

If the two big telcos could nut out a suitable deal, Telecom could avoid funding these free ISPs and it could even usurp possible government intervention by showing that it was playing fair with its competitors.

Now as consumers this all sounds great -- however, being an incurable cynic, I can't help thinking of the banking and oil industries where we are supposed to have lots of big companies all under keen competitive pressure to provide customers with the best service at the best price. When I think of these industries the word "cartel" pops up -- and I can't help but remembering that Clear isn't some benevolent giant whose role in life is to free us all from the vice-like monopoly grip of the evil giant Telecom.

No, Clear is JAT (Just Another Telco), and it is effectively owned by BT whose, local call charging scheme in the UK makes Telecom's prices look very tame by comparison.

So watch out, I wouldn't be surprised to see Theresa's handbag and Tim Cullinane's briefcase rubbing handles beside the big oak table in the weeks to come and the result may be some significant changes in the landscape of the local telco scene -- perhaps to the advantage of customers -- perhaps not.

From the "Give Me A Break" Department
State Services Minister Trevor Mallard has announced the detail of New Zealand's e-government vision and it was signed off by Cabinet this week -- or so says another piece of government spin that was spat out of the parliamentary PR department yesterday.

"E-government offers some fantastic opportunities. In the end we hope it will give us a more transparent system where people can watch and participate in democracy - that can only be good for New Zealand," Trevor Mallard said.

"It is an important part of the future of democracy. We need a service that’s at least as good at service and information delivery as the private sector – if not better. "

I was almost moved to email Mr Mallard so I could congratulate him on this bold initiative and to ask a couple of questions -- but then I remembered the email I received from the office of Phil Goff just a few days ago:

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