Telecom and structural separation

Fran O’Sullivan is supportive of Telecom’s proposal to actually structurally separate the network division, rather than just operationally separate it.

I blogged on my enthusiasm for structural separation back on 18 March. So I am naturally pleased to see Telecom’s proposal.

However from my reading of the proposal, Telecom are not proposing that the assets which would have gone into an operationally separated network division, would be the same assets in a structurally separated network company. And that division of assets is essential, as if you do not have the monopoly bottleneck assets in the network division or company, then you will not get the competition you need.

But I may be misreading the proposal, and it is light on details. In my InternetNZ role I’m meeting with three Telecom officials tomorrow, where they’ll be explaining to us their proposal in more detail. I’m definitely looking forward to that, and may be able to blog in some more detail once I understand it better.

I would love for there to be a separate network company, so Telecom can get on with its business with less regulation. Whether this proposal will adequately achieve that I don’t yet know. But it is great that Telecom have taken the initiative in proposing it.