Tuanz calls on Govt to solve telcos row

By CHRIS BARTON

The telecommunications users association, Tuanz, is calling on the Government to step in and try again to broker a solution in the dispute over 0867-prefix internet access.

Chief executive Ernie Newman was concerned the current legal battle involving i4free, Clear and Telecom may still result in a stalemate leaving users sidelined.

"It seems that whether New Zealand, like other countries, gets free internet services will be determined as a by-product of the courtroom fracas, rather than from any commercially workable competitive framework."

While supportive of the ministerial inquiry into telecommunications, Mr Newman said the court action showed just how poorly prepared for the internet age the country's regulatory environment is.

"The public's right to access through whatever reasonable means they choose is being hampered by our legislative vacuum."

IT and Communications Minister Paul Swain has said that Christmas would be the earliest any legislative change suggested by the inquiry could be pushed through.

The Government also tried, unsuccessfully, earlier in the year to get Clear and Telecom to set aside differences on 0867 access while the inquiry was under way.

Mr Newman said a stopgap solution was needed so that the industry did not go into a holding pattern waiting for the inquiry's recommendations.

At the heart of the problem is how to handle interconnect payments between Clear and Telecom.

Ihug director Tim Wood believes that if i4free and Clear win their High Court cases, it will set a precedent that could be used against them. An internet provider could take a Telecom 0867 number and map it to a Clear local number and then terminate calls on a Telecom exchange - meaning interconnect revenue would flow to Telecom.

"I'm not saying we would do it, but imagine what the 8 million hours a month ihug's users spend online would cost Clear in interconnect fees."

He acknowledged ihug had been taking a share of interconnect payments from Clear before the introduction of 0867, but now realised such short-term gains was not in the country's long-term interests.

The interconnect agreement between Clear and Telecom comes up for renegotiation at the end of the year.

Mr Wood said confidentiality agreements prevented him from commenting on whether Telecom paid ihug a sum believed to be between $13.3 and $20 million to change to 0867 numbers.

In another development, Clear networks director Ken Benson has written to Telecom group general manager David Bedford inviting a reopening of discussions on the 0867 regime and related interconnection issues.

Telecom spokesperson Linda Sanders said the company was always prepared to talk and look at any solutions to network congestion.

Clear's letter outlined three alternative solutions to congestion including one Telecom had already proposed to i4free involving spreading the traffic load over other exchanges.

Another was that Telecom map its i4free's 0867 number to a Clear local number thereby taking most calls off the Airedale exchange.

Clear also suggested running its fibre-optic cable to other exchanges to provide capacity relief for those that were overloaded.