New Zealand Watchdog To Probe Telecom Services For Extended Regulation

WELLINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The Commerce Commission Friday said there are grounds to investigate several services of Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd. (NZT) to ascertain whether the period of regulation should be extended.

"At this stage, the commission considers that there are reasonable grounds to investigate ten of the thirteen services," the country's competition watchdog said in a statement.

The 13 services currently being regulated by the commission were originally incorporated within the Telecommunications Act.

The commission said that its preliminary view is that interconnection, retail, national roaming and number portability are among the 10 services that should be investigated.

Telecom Corp. is the country's biggest fixed-line phone company and is the second-largest mobile service provider after British-based Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN).

Telecom's services have come under close scrutiny by local regulators since 2001, when the Telecommunications Act was introduced to foster competition and curb any monopoly pricing by the phone company.

Several of Telecom's services have since come under regulation, including interconnection pricing, competitors' access to its digital network and resale of its services to homes and businesses.

The commission said that interested parties can provide their submissions on its preliminary view by Sept. 30.

Web Site: www.comcom.govt.nz

-By Shri Navaratnam, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; shri.navaratnam@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 16th September 2005