Editorials praise Minister

Tuesday’s Dom Post Editorial praises David Cunliffe for the split of Telecom:

The changes are a credit to Mr Cunliffe, who has done what no communications minister before him has done despite overwhelming evidence that Telecom was using its control of the fixed line network to advantage shareholders and unfairly disadvantage rivals and customers. …

The new board and new chief executive, Paul Reynolds, have adopted a more constructive approach to dealing with other industry players and the Government.

That is a welcome development. But the lesson of the Telecom experiment should never be forgotten.

Governments should not sell monopolies unless they are able to regulate to protect the national interest. The failure of successive governments to do so, has cost consumers hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars and set back infrastructural development several years.

And today The Press also devotes an editorial to it:

Telecom had no real choice but to accept the separation agreement, albeit after some to-ing and fro-ing over the detail with David Cunliffe, the Communications Minister. Cunliffe, who is fast emerging as a Cabinet go-getter in both his communications and health portfolios, made it clear that he wanted the agreement with Telecom to be robust and he appears to have achieved this. …

But the separation also presents new opportunities, especially through growth in its wholesale business as new retailers enter the market. If the company can grasp these opportunities, then separation could produce a triple win result, for Telecom, its competitors and, most importantly, for New Zealand consumers.

The editorials speak for themselves.