2Degrees Mobile must pay a bigger share of the annual levy that funds non-viable telecommunications services as the country's third-placed mobile operator continues to lift its market share.
The Auckland-based company will pay $3.6 million, or 7.3 per cent of the Telecommunication Development Levy, for the 2015/16 year, up from$2.9m, or 5.9 per cent a year earlier. 2degrees was the biggest mover this year, easing the burden of the biggest three contributors: Spark New Zealand, Vodafone New Zealand and Chorus.
The levy was introduced in 2011 as part of the enabling legislation to carve Chorus out of Telecom, now known as Spark, and goes towards a contestable fund that helps pay for projects such as the rural broadband initiative and mobile black spot fund. It replaced Telecom's telecommunications service obligation, formerly known as the Kiwi Share, which was used to pay for telecommunications infrastructure where it isn't immediately profitable to do so, such as in rural areas.
Toronto-listed 2degrees posted a 43 per cent increase in annual revenue to $569m in calendar 2015, generating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $78.5m. The mobile carrier's qualifying revenue used to determine its share of the levy rose 24 per cent to $307.3m.
Spark remains the biggest contributor, paying $18.9m, or 38 per cent, for the 2015/16 year, down from $19m, or 38 per cent, a year earlier. Vodafone's levy shrank to $13.1m, or 26 per cent, from $13.8m, or 28 per cent, while the contribution from Chorus was largely unchanged $11.1m, or 22 per cent.
The Commerce Commission, which sets the allocations, said the only adjustment to the final was increasing Trustpower's share because of more detailed information about its qualifying revenue, with the lines company to pay about $51,000, or 0.1 per cent.
