Phone competition

on line for NZ

NEW Zealand is to have telecom munications competition this year under the first interconnection agree ment in the world to be negotiated without a third party regulator.

The newly privatised Telecom New Zealand has agreed to allow Clear Communications Ltd access to its local network and by mid-1991 it is expected that 82 per cent of telephones in the

country will have a choice of domestic and international services.

The NZ Commerce Act, which regu

lates privatisation, specifically prohibits

Telecom NZ from using its dominant position to thwart competitors. The national carrier was sold by the govern ment to a US-dominated consortium last year for 5U52.55 million, while Clear is owned by Bell Canada International, MCI Communications of the US, and two New Zealand shareholders, Todd Corporation and the state-owned Tele vision New Zealand. TVNZ became Clear’s first customer in February when

it signed up to use the new network for its domestic operations.

Clear’s Chief Executive George Newton said his company was aiming at lines similar to Mercury in Britain. It will offer toll (long distance) bypass and private line services, including Centrex which will allow commercial subscribers a central office switch solution and replace their PABX. To use Clear’s toll service, customers must register as users.

They then use their existing connection and access Clear by the prefix 050.

The company is planning to compete with Telecom NZ both on price and response time. D