11. Summary of Questions
260. Below is a list of the consultations questions which submitters may like to use to guide preparing their submission. Please note that issues commented on should depend on the particular areas of interest to a submitter and a response is not required for every issue identified.
The TSO Framework
3a. How important is the KSO/TSO framework as a component of the overall regulatory regime of New Zealand for telecommunications services?
3b. How effective has the TSO framework been in achieving the government's telecommunications objective of ensuring the delivery of cost efficient, timely, and innovative telecommunications services on an ongoing, fair and equitable basis to all existing and potential users?
3c. Would other policy mechanisms be more appropriate than TSO instruments to achieving the government's telecommunications objective going forward?
3d. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the TSO framework?
Purpose and Market Impact of the Local Service TSO
4a. How does the Local Service TSO contribute to advancing the interests of telecommunications users?
4b. Would the universal availability and affordability of local residential telephone service for households be better achieved another way?
4c. What should be the focus of the Local Service TSO going forward?
Availability of Service
5a. Does the Local Service TSO effectively address gaps in the commercial market for the availability of telephone service?
5b. Should the Local Service TSO requirements for service availability be retained?
5c. Should geographic coverage requirements for the supply of TSO local service be extended to cover areas currently outside the TSO and why?
Service Performance
5d. Should the existing service performance measures be expanded, including down to geographic regional level, to better ensure reliability of telephone service? If so, what measures are recommended and why?
5e. Are there service measures which would better represent the aspects of service performance which are of most importance to users?
5f. Should penalty performance rebates apply for non-compliance by the Local Service TSO Provider?
5g. Should there be reporting on the quality and capacity of network capabilities for supplying TSO local service?
Service Reporting
5h. Should information about TSO local telephone service supplied in commercially non-viable areas be made publicly available by the TSO provider as part of its TSO requirements? If so, why?
Convergence and Transitioning of NGN
5i. Should the gateway devices installed in customer's homes to support the supply of telephone service be required to have battery back-up? If so, why, and should there be a requirement that battery back-up last for a specified period?
5j. Should a requirement for battery back-up only apply for residential customers living in areas outside mobile cellular phone coverage?
5k. Should battery back-up requirements be equally applicable across all providers (TSO and non-TSO) of telephone access services and if so, should any requirements be prescribed by regulation?
5l. Should dial-up internet access be discontinued for TSO local service if a bitstream equivalent (i.e. NGN version) is supplied as a replacement?
5m. Do you have any concerns about aspects of Telecom's planned NGN local service?
TSO Charge of Unspecified Amount
6a. Should the status quo prevail for setting the TSO charge compensating the Local Service TSO Provider for meeting TSO requirements?
6b. If the TSO charge is to remain an unspecified amount, should the prescribed methodology for calculating the TSO charge be changed?
Uncontested TSO Charge of Specific Amount
6c. Should a specified amount TSO charge be applied for the Local Service TSO?
6d. How should any such "specified amount" TSO charge be structured? Should there be fixed charge and variable charge components?
6e. Should a TSO Charge of specified amount be linked to the Communications Producer Price Index (PPI) as a proxy cost standard for the telecommunications industry?
TSO Provider Bearing All TSO Cost – No TSO Charge
6f. Should the TSO Charge for Local Service be abolished?
6g. What importance do you place on the merits and risks outlined for abolishing the TSO charge?
Contested TSO Charge of Specified Amount
6h. What importance do you place on the merits and risks outlined above for contestability in compensating the Local Service TSO Provider?
6i. Do you agree that contestability can only be expected to bring net benefits in areas which are commercially non-viable?
6j. What form of contestability would best achieve the service objectives
Linking Compensation and Investment
6k. How should investment be linked to compensation of the TSO Provider for local telephone service?
6l. What TSO requirements should be added to prevent the deferral of investment for capability renewal by the Local service TSO provider?
6m. Should a special fund be established for capability renewal of the networks supplying TSO local service?
6n. Who (e.g. a corporate trustee) should be responsible for such a fund? Should it operate on an "escrow" basis?
Eligibility for Service
7a. Should eligibility for TSO local telephone service be confined to purely residential use?
7b. What are the merits of establishing a "hybrid telephone service option" for home business use where a business is co-sited with a household in residential premises?
7c. Should the incremental revenue for such a new TSO local service be channelled into investment in rural network infrastructure?
7d. What are the merits of applying such an option to all home business premises as opposed to confining the application to only those home business premises located in a rural area as defined by Statistics New Zealand rural definition?
Price Cap
7e. Should the CPI price cap be retained for commercially non-viable areas?
7f. Should the CPI price cap be retained for commercially viable areas where there is not yet full and effective competition?
7g. Should the price cap for commercially viable areas be removed where there is full competition?
7h. Should the retail charge for residential local telephone service continue to be capped through the Local service TSO deed?
7i. Should retail prices be controlled outside the TSO framework through regulations made under the Telecommunication Act?
7j. Should another policy mechanism be used to cap the price of residential telephone service?
7k. Do you agree with the factors listed for setting the retail price cap for local service? What is missing? What weight should be given to each?
Free Local Calling
7l. Does the option of free local calling for residential customers present difficulties for development and growth of the broadband market?
Price Rebalancing, Deaveraging and Wholesale Services
7m. Should retail line rentals for local telephone service be aligned with the degree of geographic de-averaging applied for pricing regulated wholesale services?
7n. Should prices for local telephone service supplied in rural areas be rebalanced (to align prices closer to cost) more aggressively than the rate of CPI change?
7o. How should any detrimental impact on the consumer affordability of local service due to price deaveraging be addressed?
Upfront Subscription Charges
7p. Should the upfront charges for establishing telephone access connections be covered by the TSO requirements
TSO Provider Gatekeeper Role
8a. Should the gatekeeper role be performed by a government or non-government organisation and why?
8b. Should the gatekeeper role continue to be performed under the Local Service TSO or be a new TSO instrument?
Emergency Call Information
8c. Should all providers of telephone service in New Zealand be required to establish and maintain capability to identify caller location for emergency calls sourced by their subscribers?
8d. How should requirements for call information be phased in? Should they apply equally to both legacy telephone networks and next generation telephone networks?
8e. Should the cost for establishing and maintaining call information capability for public telephone networks in New Zealand be borne by the carriers operating those networks?
8f. How should minimum standards be set for the supply of call information? By invoking reserve regulation making powers and/or by an industry code of practice?
Availability of Emergency Call Service
8g. Should requirements for the quality and reliability of emergency call services be prescribed to apply uniformly across the telecommunications industry (TSO service and non-TSO service?
8h. Should the requirements for conveyance of emergency calls be prescribed through regulations under the Telecommunications Act, through an enforceable industry code of practice, or a combination of both?
8i. Should all telephone service providers in New Zealand (including those facilitating telephone calling through Internet access) be required to offer their subscribers the ability to make emergency calls?
Lifeline Access
8j. Should access lines be kept in an active state after service is relinquished to enable lifeline calls to be made?
8k. Should the supply of such lifeline connection be compulsory for all operators of public fixed telephone networks, irrespective of whether telephone access is by an analogue line or a VoIP bitstream on a digital line?
8l. Should this requirement be applicable to only cable (wire or fibre) fixed lines that reticulate dwellings and premises?
Availability and Adoption of Rural Broadband
9a. Taking into account likely broadband user requirements in 3-5 years time, what do you consider will be the key broadband applications (e.g. email, web browsing etc) for businesses and households?
9b. To what extent do you consider that the market will meet the broadband needs of rural users (including availability and affordability) in the next five years?
9c. Do you consider there is a case for subsidy mechanisms to fund upgrading of rural broadband infrastructure, and if so, what mechanisms should or should not be considered, and why?
TSO Role in Improving Broadband Connectively
9d. What role do you think the TSO framework should have in accelerating the uptake of broadband access for New Zealand homes?
9e. How are these rules above for considering a broadband USO relevant to New Zealand?
9f. Are there other factors that need to be considered for a Broadband TSO?
9g. Should for the TSO Provider for any broadband TSO be selected on a contestable basis?
Design Principles for TSO Instruments
9h. Do you agree with these suggested guiding principles?
9i. Are there other factors which need to be consideration in shaping TSO requirements?
Responsibility for TSO Change Determination
10a. Should the Commerce Commission retain responsibility for calculating the TSO charges for TSO instruments containing charging rates of specified amount?
10b. What type of organisations should be considered to perform such a role going forward?
10c. Should responsibility for making TSO determinations which calculate TSO charges of specified amount be separated from the Commerce Commission?
10d. Should responsibility for allocating TSO charges over the industry be separated from the Commerce Commission?
10e. Does a trust fund arrangement have merit? Who would be appropriate to operate such a trust fund?
Payment of TSO Levies by Liable Persons
10f. Should an interim TSO levy be applied for compensating TSO Providers in advance of reconciliation and final payments?
10g. Should such an interim payment arrangement for TSO levies be on a similar basis to the industry levy for recovering the Commerce Commission telecommunications regulatory cost?
Extension, Expiry and Review of TSO Instruments
10h. Should a standard practice apply for extending the duration of TSO instruments?
10i. Should TSO instruments automatically expire after a specific period?
10j. How frequently should TSO instruments be reviewed?
Accountability for Local Service TSO Compliance
10k. Should a single organisational unit of Telecom have accountability for all TSO functions? What Telecom business unit should this be?
10l. How should responsibility for the various TSO functions identified be allocated across the Telecom Group?
10m. How should costs and revenues for TSO service requirements, which Telecom fulfils as TSO Provider, be allocated across the Telecom Group?
10n. How should the cost of TSO levies paid by the Telecom Group be allocated across Telecom business units?
Standard TSO Instruments
10o. Should provision be made in the TSO regulatory framework for establishing a "Standard TSO Instrument" to save multiple determinations against the same general TSO terms and conditions
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