Paul Goldsmith, Minister of Media and Communications, said while the review was focused on regulatory issues raised by the sector, it also needed the views of Kiwis.
“The telecommunication service obligation requires some services in rural areas to be available and affordable, so we need to be sure that’s happening,” he said.
Changes could include introducing a consumer code, replacing or phasing out the current obligation framework, and “getting rid of obsolete rules”.
Tech commentator Bill Bennett told The Front Page that, given the Government wants to reduce red tape overall, the telecom sector seems a good place to start.
“One of the problems historically is that telecommunications, like anything in technology, moves quite fast, and legislation doesn’t tend to move very fast.
“In New Zealand, we have something called the Telecommunications Act, and since 2001, there have been 13 amendments. So, it’s amended every couple of years, and a lot of those amendments along the way have been to update it.
“It’s not like it’s left to just stew and get out of date,” he said.
One of the review’s draft proposals is replacing or phasing out the existing telecommunications service obligations (TSO).
These, Bennett said, were put in place when the sector was privatised to ensure things that had been seen as “social goods” continued, like access to services and 111.
“What the TSO is really all about is getting private companies to continue those services. There’s money for that, some government money, and some of it comes from a levy which is charged on the industry,” he said.
Historically, without these legal assurances, there was a risk of leaving rural towns in the dust.
“I remember someone telling me there was a phone line to the Ōrongorongo lodge, right at the bottom of the Wairarapa on the coast. It was the longest single stretch of copper wiring in the network at the time.
“The head of Telecom at the time told me that it literally cost millions every year for that line to exist. But that was being subsidised by all the people in Karori and places like that, where they live close to an exchange, and it costs nothing to connect to lines.
“That kind of cross-subsidy was there, and it’s not in a commercial era. It is in some ways, because the fibre network has been subsidised and the network going into rural towns has been paid for by various government projects over the years,” he said.
Results from a recent Commerce Commission study reveal most rural customers can now access three alternative technologies that are more reliable and affordable than copper.
In response to concerns about possible changes to current obligations, Chorus General Counsel Kristel McMeekin said “the review is an opportunity to ensure the regulatory framework reflects how people connect today – so it’s clearer, more consistent, and better supports consumers as they transition to more reliable, future-ready technologies."
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- How many people still rely on the copper network?
- The digital divide between urban and rural
- How Cyclone Gabrielle exposed fragilities in our network
- Regulatory trends in Australia vs New Zealand.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
