Commerce Commission receives undertakings for the mobile termination access services

The Commerce Commission has received undertakings from Vodafone, Telecom and NZ Communications in relation to the provision of mobile termination access services.

The undertakings have been received in the context of the Commission’s investigation into whether or not mobile termination access services (incorporating mobile-to-mobile voice termination, fixed-to-mobile voice termination and short-message-service termination) should become regulated services under Schedule 1 of the Act.
Under the Act, telecommunications companies that supply mobile termination access services are able to submit undertakings with the Commission, as a proposed alternative to regulation.

The Commission is making public the undertakings to provide interested parties with an opportunity to comment. Commerce Commission Chair Paula Rebstock said, “Interested parties are invited to make submissions on the undertakings by Thursday 5 February 2009. After the receipt of submissions, there will be a reasonable opportunity for parties to amend their undertakings in light of any submissions received.”

The undertakings are available on the Commission’s website www.comcom.govt.nz under Industry Regulation/Telecommunications/Investigations/Mobile to Mobile Termination/mobile to mobile termination
Background
Mobile termination access services are the terms and conditions under which mobile phone companies terminate calls and text messages from other networks on their networks, enabling mobile phone users to receive calls and text messages from different phone networks. A key condition is the mobile termination charges, or price charged for the termination of calls and text messages. Mobile termination charges are a significant contributor to the retail prices of calls and text messages to mobile phones.

Schedule 3 of the Telecommunications Act. Under Schedule 3, the Commission can commence an investigation into whether or not a new telecommunications service should be regulated, ie included in the list of regulated services in Schedule 1. The Commission then makes a recommendation based on its investigation to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

A regulated service under Schedule 1 of the Telecommunications Act can be either a designated service, where the terms and conditions including price of the service can be set by the Commission, or a specified service, where the Commission can set non-price terms and conditions only.

An undertaking under Schedule 3A of the Telecommunications Act is an alternative to a proposed regulatory change where an access provider commits to terms and conditions under which they will supply a service to all access seekers.