Broadband Bill Passes First Vote 4:45 PM, 29 Jun 2006 Print this...

Broadband Bill Passes First Vote
4:45 PM, 29 Jun 2006 Print this story

Legislation to open up access and competition in the broadband market has comfortably passed its first reading in Parliament.

The Government wants the Telecommunications Bill passed by the end of the year.

MPs have agreed to allow the select committee which will work on its detail and hear public submissions to sit extended hours to get the bill back into the House for further votes by early November.

The bill was introduced eight weeks after the Government announced it would be intervening to force Telecom to open up its local phone lines to rivals as part of a package to stimulate faster, cheaper and better internet services.

Communications Minister David Cunliffe told the House the bill was central to the Government’s package of measures to help New Zealand’s telecommunications sector catch-up with leading developed countries.

The bill aims to improve the wholesale regime by making more services subject to regulation and giving the Telecommunications Commissioner greater implementation, monitoring and enforcement powers.

As well as “unbundling” Telecom’s hold on local phone lines, it will remove restrictions on the existing unbundled bitstream service and make clear that broadband can be purchased without having to buy a phone service.

Act was the only party to oppose the bill’s introduction.

Leader Rodney Hide said the legislation “casually” pinched property rights off Telecom and this would not encourage investment in New Zealand’s economy.

He questioned where the Government’s intervention would stop “and what kind of banana republic are we becoming?”

Though it supported the bill going to the finance and expenditure select committee, National also raised concerns about property rights and rural internet services, and gave notice it would be seeking changes to the bill.