Telecom puts rivals on hold

Theresa Gattung

It has been two weeks since Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung promised that the company was changing its stripes but competitors say there has been no difference so far.

"Absolutely nothing has changed, they're just running true to form," said CallPlus co-founder Annette Presley.

Gattung, in a speech at the Telecommunications Users Association (Tuanz) conference in Wellington, said Telecom would no longer be obstructive to competition and hide behind legalistic arguments.

Gattung was immediately challenged by CallPlus co-founder Malcolm Dick, who asked if Telecom would drop its opposition to his company's application for better wholesale broadband terms.

Gattung said she had not been briefed on the application and refused to comment further.

Presley yesterday confirmed there had been no moves by Telecom to solve the dispute since then.

Ihug, which is seeking the same determination, also confirmed Telecom had taken no action on its application.

Two weeks after Gattung pleaded ignorance about the applications, Telecom said it still could not comment.

"It is an area where there is a lot of activity going on but I don't think we want to get into it in the media," said Telecom spokesman John Goulter.

David Diprose, ihug's regulatory affairs general manager and president of the 25-member Internet Service Providers Association (Ispanz), said Telecom had also not responded to a letter about data transmission charges from Ispanz sent last week.

Tuanz's newly elected chairman, Merv Altments, wrote an open letter to Gattung on May 26 urging her to solve the disputes with CallPlus and ihug, as well as its local service interconnection issue with Vodafone, within 90 days.

"Acceptance of this challenge, and its subsequent fulfillment, would send a powerful signal from Telecom to any who remain sceptical about the undertakings you gave us all at the conference," he wrote.

Tuanz chief executive Ernie Newman confirmed Telecom has not yet replied to the letter.

"We're waiting with extreme interest to hear their response," he said.

Vodafone would not comment on its dispute over local call pricing but a source familiar with the situation said there had been no overtures by Telecom in the past two weeks to solve the matter.

Telecom is poised to address some of these issues next week, a source in the company says.

Diprose said despite the lack of apparent change from Telecom, ihug remained cautiously optimistic.

Gattung's promises

"I am here to tell you in no uncertain terms, we get it."

"We are not arguing to turn back time. We are not going to be obstructive. We are not going to mount any rearguard actions. We are not going to fight old regulatory battles. We are not going to hide behind legalistic arguments."

"Some of you will be sceptical. But this is not mere window dressing. Judge us by the evidence. Judge us by the changes you see."