Sponsor's Message

Telecom has, once again, dodged the Commerce Commission's bullets and entered into a duopoly arrangement with "competitor" TelstraClear so as to ensure that the price of DSL-based broadband in New Zealand remains uncompetitive with the rest of the developed world.

As we've seen in the mobile market, Telecom knows full well that a duopoly is almost as good as a monopoly and a whole lot better than having to compete head-on with a raft of other players.

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By working together, Telecom and its duopoly partner are able to ensure that profit margins remain very high and other core services (such as leased digital circuits) aren't threatened by offerings from cheaper providers.

I long ago gave up counting the number of times I've repeated the claim that Telecom will continue to outmaneuver the government's attempts to lift NZ's performance in the area of broadband uptake -- but I'll repeat it again.

It's important to note that it's *not* the fault of the Commerce Commission that this stupidity is allowed to continue -- it's all down to the ministers who have blatantly ignored good advice to unbundle the local loop -- and this calls for some serious investigation.

Who is responsible for such bad planning and fiscal management that a single company such as Telecom can call the tunes -- by threatening to slash the value of the government's superannuation fund?

Are the actions of those in government totally selfless -- or do they have some other hidden agenda for ensuring that Telecom retains the ability to leverage its monopoly and duopoly positions within various markets?

Will we see some of the ministers who are currently allowing themselves to be swayed by Telecom's thinly veiled threats eventually appearing on its board or the board of a subsidiary?

I wonder how many of these ministers stand to benefit from a high Telecom share price? Sure, they'll disclose any personal shareholdings in such companies -- but what about those buried deep in holding companies or otherwise anonymous trusts?

Call me a cynic but there have been enough events in recent times to show that many of our MPs and ministers are far from squeaky clean and corruption-free. When you look at the decisions being made and the effects they're having, one can't help but wonder if we know the full story.

We've been told that the decision not to unbundle was a "line call" -- well, in light of the recent round of price hikes from Telecom and its cosy little duopoly deal with TelstraClear, isn't it time to admit that the call was wrong and perhaps needs to be revisited?

Why are we allowing our politicians to continue to stuff up the local telecoms sector? Where's the outrage and demands for a decent explanation?

Better add another four million (two-legged) sheep to the nation's next census.

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