Telecom and ihug reach UBS agreement

Telecom and ihug said today they had reached an agreement on a 1 and 2 megabyte (MB) unbundled bitstream service (UBS).

UBS is a wholesale high-speed internet service which allows other internet Service Providers (ISPs) access to Telecom's network to provide high speed broadband.

Telecom said in a statement the agreement would not affect its agreed launch dates for its UBS plans in March next year.

The UBS was originally scheduled for launch in June this year but Telecom pled technical issues and delayed the launch to September, which again did not materialise.

Frustrated with the delays ihug and TelstraClear both applied to the Commerce Commission to investigate. As a result of today's agreement ihug said it had withdrawn its application to the Commission.

Recently Telecom has made a number of concessions regarding its Jetstream resale arrangements. They will now be available nationwide, after previously being excluded in competitive areas where other networks existed.

Telecom also decided to allow split billing, so a retail customer could choose to keep their phone line with Telecom and take their broadband service from another service provider.

Ihug said in a statement today it would also launch higher speeds for its bliink broadband range in January.

Shares in Telecom were up 4c at $5.96 in mid-morning trade.

- NZPA