ComCom revisits fibre rules as competition intensifies

Telecommunications commissioner Tristan Gilbertson says his Commerce Commission team has begun looking at how fibre broadband regulation might develop.

He says that while the fibre regime is working well, it needs to keep pace with market developments.

One such development is the rise of plausible alternative technologies. When the fibre network was first planned, there was an assumption it would be, if not a monopoly on the scale of the former copper phone network, then at least the dominant technology.

That assumption has been baked into regulatory thinking.

Fibre no longer the only game in town

Today, as expected, fibre dominates the broadband market in regions where the technology is available, but it faces intense competition from fixed wireless and, increasingly, from global-scale satellite broadband services.

Gilbertson says: “Maintaining the certainty required for ongoing investment in world-class fibre means having the right rules in place now and into the future – so we’re launching a programme of work to ensure we keep the balance right.”

The first stage is a review of the underlying framework of rules for fibre services – called the Fibre Input Methodologies (IMs).

For now, the focus is on three aspects of the Fibre IMs: cost of capital, rules governing new capital investments, and how controls apply to Chorus, which operates the lion’s share of the UFB fibre network.

Cost of capital

Work on the cost of capital for fibre will be reviewed alongside other Commerce Commission work covering energy networks and airports.

The next stage will consider other aspects of the fibre regime. This includes whether there is a case for winding back some fibre regulations. One question arising is whether the revenue cap on Chorus remains the best way to keep the market competitive.

Declared services and questions about unbundled fibre will also be in the mix, along with a review of the existing information disclosure regime.

Mobile termination rate deregulation steps closer

The Commerce Commission says it will investigate deregulating mobile termination rates. These are the charges that mobile carriers apply when a call or text message starts on one network and finishes on another.

It was the Commerce Commission’s 2011 move to regulate mobile termination rates, or Mobile Termination Access Services (MTAS), that paved the way for greater competition in mobile telecommunications and the emergence of 2degrees as a serious challenger to the incumbents Telecom NZ (now Spark) and Vodafone (now One NZ).

In the 14 years since then a series of over-the-top messaging services have emerged which could mean regulation is no longer essential for keeping the market competitive. However, many worry that carriers may return to their earlier practices if the regulatory shackles are removed.

Telecommunications commissioner Tristan Gilbertson is not among the worriers. He says:“We’ve seen a significant shift in the competitive landscape. This means a formal investigation is warranted, but a recommendation to deregulate will be made only if we find regulation is no longer necessary to promote competition for the benefit of consumers.”

The Minister for Media and Communications gets to make the final decision on deregulation based on Commerce Commission advice.

Apple Maps now show Māori rohe, marae

Apple has updated the Aotearoa New Zealand edition of its Maps app with details showing rohe (iwi territory) and marae. They now show a new marae map icon and the detailed place cards have been updated to include iwi information and Te Reo Māori text.

The company worked with iwi and local indigenous cartographers on the project.

Annie Balle from Tūhourangi iwi says: “For Tūhourangi, this partnership with Apple Maps is more than just a technological collaboration — it reflects our role as kaitiaki (caretakers), ensuring the protection and accurate representation of our cultural heritage.”

“By bringing our stories to a global audience, we can uphold our narratives and safeguard our data sovereignty.”

Apple has previously done similar work with native American communities in the US and Canada. This week it rolled out a map initiative in Australia.

Broadband speeds stable in MBNZ report

MBNZ’s report for the March 2025 quarter shows download and upload speeds are largely stable, with little change when compared to recent reports.

The exception is Starlink’s low-Earth orbit service, which saw modest gains; peak speeds climbed 5.7 percent and non-peak speeds were up 4.3 percent.

Peak speeds on Starlink’s standard service are close to 15 percent lower at 185 Mbps than during off-peak hours, when downloads reach 217 Mbps. This effect is more pronounced on the less expensive ‘deprioritised’ plans, where speeds drop by 21 percent at peak times.

Satellite streaming

MBNZ says 85 percent of homes with a standard Starlink residential connection can sustain two simultaneous video streams. This drops to 50 percent for homes using the cheaper, deprioritised Starlink Residential Lite plan.

Researchers measured the time needed to download the Hogwarts Legacy game from three different online stores. The game is 79.5GB and was downloaded on most fibre plans in less than five minutes during peak time. Customers on the lower-priced Fibre 50 plans took around half an hour to get the game. This was the same as customers on VDSL.

Starlink customers averaged under 10 minutes, while people on ADSL plans needed about two hours and 12 minutes.

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