Schedule 3 Investigation into Regulation of Mobile Termination
The Minister has rejected the Commerce Commission's recommendation to regulate mobile termination under the Telecommunications Act 2001.
In May 2004 the Commerce Commission decided to investigate the need for regulation of mobile termination following complaints. Mobile termination rates are fees mobile network operators charge other telecommunications providers to terminate voice calls on their mobile networks.
On 9 June 2005 the Commission recommended regulation of mobile termination, and on 21 April 2006 provided its reconsidered recommendation of regulation of termination of voice calls made from fixed home or business phone lines to all mobile networks, including those using 3G technologies.
Under Schedule 3 of the Telecommunications Act 2001, the Minister of Communications may either:
- accept the Commerce Commission's recommendation;
- reject the Commerce Commission's recommendation;
- or request the Commerce Commission to reconsider its recommendation.
In December 2006, Communications Minister David Cunliffe delegated power to make the decision on mobile termination to Economic Development Minister Trevor Mallard.
Minister's Decision
On 30 April 2007 Economic Development Minister Trevor Mallard decided to reject the Commerce Commission’s recommendation to regulate mobile termination.
Both Telecom NZ Ltd and Vodafone NZ Ltd have separately provided deeds setting out binding commitments related to mobile termination that they are willing to implement if mobile termination services are not regulated. The terms of the deeds are provided below.
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Media Statements
Details of the statement on Commerce Commission Reconsideration Final Report on the (Schedule 3) Investigation into Regulation of Mobile Termination, from the Hon David Cunliffe, Minister of Communications.
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Deeds
Deeds by Telecom NZ Ltd and Vodafone New Zealand.
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Past Decisions on Mobile Termination
The following page outlines the steps and decisions made in terms of the Commerce Commission’s mobile termination investigation between 9 June 2005 and 30 April 2006.
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