By PAUL BRISLEN and PETER GRIFFIN
Internet providers look set for a showdown with Telecom after the Commerce Commission said a wholesaling deal proposed by the company was inadequate.
Telecom presented an internet wholesaling deal to the commission late last year in a bid to stave off the threat of having
its copper wire network opened to competitors.
The move succeeded, but Telecom is offering its competitors a service inferior to the one it originally outlined.
A spokesman for the commission's network access group said Telecom's failure to offer the service it originally outlined opened the door for complaints from internet providers wanting a better deal.
"People can approach us about access disputes and ask us to set terms and conditions," he said.
"We want them to know there's an alternative."
The commission's involvement follows Auckland internet provider Orcon's protests over Telecom changing the terms and conditions of its wholesale broadband service.
Orcon has been aggressively advertising its new service, which offers 256 kbps (kilobits per second) download speeds and unlimited traffic use.
But Telecom has said the wholesale agreement won't allow unlimited traffic but will be limited to an average of 10GB (gigabytes) a user a month.
Orcon founder Seeby Woodhouse says he is frustrated by the affair.
"It does get in the way of some of the things we wanted to offer."
He said Orcon would honour its commitment to those customers who had already signed up for the advertised service levels.
"We were looking at doing things like streaming video, maybe CNN or whatever, for our customers.
"That's not as likely if we have to restrict the traffic each customer uses."
The chief executive of the Telecommunications Users Association, Ernie Newman, said Telecom's move to restrict the wholesale service proved the Telecommunications Commissioner's office and the Government, should get involved.
"Even with Orcon, which is close to Telecom, they're willing to shut down any competition before it becomes a threat."
The Minister for Communications, Paul Swain, was not available yesterday to comment.
