Telecom's grip on the phone and internet market was further loosened yesterday as the Commerce Commission announced the prices its rivals will pay to provide broadband without renting a phone line.
Telcos will soon be able to provide unbundled bitstream, also known as Naked DSL, which will allow
consumers to ditch their phone line and use broadband to make phone calls.
The draft prices to be paid by internet and phone companies to use Telecom's broadband service without phone-line rental range from $44.19 for urban users to $76.16 for rural users to have the best available broadband connection.
Telecommunications Commissioner Ross Patterson said phone and internet firms could choose between using the unbundled local loop to install their own services or wholesaling Telecom's bitstream service.
"They may choose to invest in infrastructure, by renting the copper local loop and installing their equipment in Telecom's exchanges, or they may choose to buy wholesale bitstream services from Telecom, adding value to them before on-selling."
WorldxChange chief executive Cecil Alexander said the pricing was in line with what he had expected.
The company, which specialises in offering voice over internet protocol calling (VoIP), is due to launch a digital voice and broadband package for less than $70 at the end of next month.
"We can offer bundled products that have more features that the user can control at a lower price than they pay now," said Alexander.
Services consumers could expect include voicemail being sent to email, call forwarding, conference calling and the ability to go online to add, delete or amend services.
TelstraClear's manager of regulatory access, Wendy Dodd, said consumers needed to check the quality of new VoIP services before giving up their old phone line.
Dodd said TelstraClear was more interested in the enhanced bitstream service available next year because it had the most potential to offer a higher quality voice service.
Melanie Marshall of Telecom Wholesale said the company was working through the details and implications of the determination.
But she said although it was just a draft the timeframes for delivering the services appeared unworkable. Telecom closed up 7c at $4.22.
