Chorus sets fibre unbundling rules, regulator targets service quality

Chorus reveals fibre unbundling plan to protect network integrity

Chorus says that while its offer to the market will comply with all legal requirements, the company aims to ensure the overall integrity of its fibre network infrastructure. 

In practice that means other companies can not install their own hardware or otherwise touch the fibre. Chorus will do any substantial work on the network infrastructure on behalf of unbundling customers. Chorus will provide splitters, devices that split a single beam of light into two beams. 

Chorus says this is important because it makes it clear where responsibilty for the network lies. It will also reduce faults, maintain consistency and ensure proper records of any changes are made. 

Chorus open to further unbundling discussions

The company went on to say it is open to further discussion with interested parties. 

The plan only allows for Layer 1 unbundling. That’s the physical part of a network. 

Unbundling means that from 2020 all four fibre companies; Chorus, NorthPower, UltraFast Fibre and Enable must allow other service providers access to their fibre networks in the first set of UFB areas. Those areas covered by UFB2 are due to be unbundled in 2026. 

Copper unbundling was successful

Unbundling was a success in the copper era when the Commerce Commission intervened to regulate the market and fix access prices. This meant ISPs could install their own network hardware in Telecom NZ’s exchanges and cabinets. Those who did often made considerable cost savings, much of which they passed on to their customers as lower prices. 

Copper unbundling became economically viable once an ISP passed a certain threshold of customers in an area. ISPs would only do so as it made commercial sense. In many cases it did. 

With around 22,000 connection sites potentially needing splitters, the economics of fibre unbundling are different. It requires a substantial capital investment. For now, there are no regulations governing the amount wholesale fibre companies can charge for unbundled access. However, the Commerce Commission has said it will step in if it feels the market is not working.

Vodafone and Vocus joint venture

In June, Vodafone and Vocus formed a joint venture to work together on fibre unbundling. They say this may allow them to offer a different range of products and services to those on offer at the moment and thereby introduce more competition to the market. 

Chorus says it is ‘ambivalent’ about the idea of fibre unbundling. That’s because prices, regulated or otherwise, are likely to be based on input costs.

The fibre companies, including Chorus have contractual performance requirements that guarantee customer experience. Any unbundled service provider will not be subject to the same legal requirement. 

ComCom to monitor telco retail service quality

A new Commerce Commission paper shows how the regulator plans to monitor how telcos perform when it comes to customer service.

Telecommunications commissioner Stephen Gale says: “Retail telecommunications is a commission priority, in particular in the areas of billing, switching, contract terms and marketing. Parliament has now given us more tools to improve retail service quality and safeguard consumers."

The recently passed Telecommunications Amendment Act means the commission has to monitor retail service quality. This includes performance, speed and availability, customer service and billing and installation issues. It also means telcos must provide customers with the information they need to make informed choices about technologies and providers.

Enable nears 90,000 connections

Enable says it now has more than 88,000 connections and hopes to hit 90,000 by the end of 2018. The Christchurch local fibre company added more than 25,000 customers in 2018. Around 200,000 homes, businesses and schools now have fibre access. 

Steve Fuller, Enable chief executive says: “2018 is already a record year for Enable in terms of customers taking up fibre broadband services across the greater Christchurch community. We’ve surpassed our connection numbers in 2017 – and we still have a month to go.”

Cert NZ sees record rise in online security threats

Cert says it received a record number of reports about threats and vulnerabilities in the third quarter of 2018. The organisation saw 870 in the period, up from 736 in the previous quarter.

Direct financial losses from online security events were up 35 percent on the earlier quarter with a total of $2.9 million reported. Phishing remains the largest reported category but unauthorised access was up 28 percent on the previous quarter. 

Liz Gosling re-elected as Tuanz chair

AUT CIO Liz Gosling has been re-elected as chair of the Tuanz board. The organisation also added Theresa Corballis of HP Enterprise as a new board member. Malcolm Condie from Livestock Improvement Corporation and Vaughan Baker of MyRepublic Group, were both re-elected. This gives the board of 10 members an equal number of male and female representatives.