Telecommunications group, Chorus, submitted a proposal to expedite the Commerce Commission’s development of the two Final Pricing Principle processes.
The proposal forms part of Chorus’ submissions to the Commerce Commission on the FPP review of the price Chorus can charge for the Unbundled Copper Local Loop (UCLL) service.
Chorus chief executive, Mark Ratcliffe, said it was pleasing to see the commission aiming to complete the related FPP review of Unbundled Bitstream Access (UBA) by the end of the year.
“We acknowledge that the UCLL and UBA FPP processes have critical linkages, and the aggregate price will be the most relevant to the industry,” he said.
“To that end, we believe resolution of both processes by the end of the year would provide everyone with greater certainty.”
Chorus has proposed a process that would allow the Commission to model the full copper network in order to determine UCLL and UBA prices in parallel.
It has also provided advice from Analysys Mason, world leading experts on economic cost modelling, on an appropriate approach to modelling.
Ratcliffe said he believed the proposal would allow the commission meet its obligation to complete the FPP process as soon as practicable and do so in a way that takes appropriate account of all costs.
“While the Commission and the industry are investing a significant amount of resources into these FPP processes, which will provide the pricing copper-based services during the transitional period through to 2020, it is worth noting that a new regulatory regime will come into existence in 2020. At this stage no-one knows what form it will take, so we also look forward to more clarity on this,” he said.
Chorus has also made submissions on the Commission’s review of the standard terms determination price list for Chorus’ unbundled copper low frequency service (UCLFS).
