KEY POINTS:
Telecom's wholesale division is throwing open the doors this week in what it says is a bid to help its phone company customers plan for the future.
Wholesale head Matt Crockett said a meeting this week would be an opportunity for its customers - other telcos, internet service
providers and resellers - to "connect the dots" between industry-wide discussions and regulatory processes.
He said it was part of a programme to progressively share information about the Telecom network and its architecture - and in particular its plans for its next generation IP-based network.
"Doing something unilaterally that everyone hates is not the way we want to do business," said Crockett.
He said any suggestion Telecom had been light on detail regarding plans for its next-generation network was unfair.
He said to have these accusations after telling the industry two months ago it would hold discussions "is frankly disappointing".
"Particularly after we have bent over backwards to open up information on local loop unbundling and show that we, in the new environment, are totally open to being more transparent and sharing information."
But he added: "I do want to make it clear, we have no intention of completely, publicly communicating every last bit of information about our network, how it's architected, to the nth degree."
Ihug regulatory manager David Diprose, who is also director of the Internet Providers' Association, said the topic was important for the industry and it was looking forward to hearing more detail about Telecom's next-generation network.
"I understand the challenges for Telecom, too. A lot of its plans are still up in the air because it really depends how the local loop unbundling determinations come off and even more how the separation process goes.
"It will be hard at the moment to have specific, detailed plans when such big things are still up in the air."
Diprose said it was important for ihug to be involved in discussions with Telecom as it introduced its next-generation network because the network would offer services in competition with ihug as well as being a platform for it to buy wholesale services.
"We'd very much like to see a programme similar to the UK where there is an industry body that works together on the next-generation network with British Telecom," he said.
"I guess we'd hope that this process that Matt's kicked off will lead into something quite similar."
British Telecom established a programme called Consult21 in conjunction with the telecommunications industry to consult widely on the introduction of its next-generation network.
Diprose said the consultation on the introduction of BT's new network appears to be working well.
