Just as it seemed the unbundling insurgency had stalled, TelstraClear has announced its entry into the market, moving its gear into 21 Telecom exchanges.

Today the telco said it had moved its own DSL2+ and VDSL2 gear into 21 of Telecom’s exchanges, moving toward a target of 70.

TestraClear says it has begun customer trials, but will not say where the exchanges are, or when the service will go live - other than that it will be before the end of the year.

The telco has been offering turbocharged VDSL2 service to its business customers since October last year; Telecom plans its own upgrade from ADSL2+ to the faster VDSL2 - the fastest possible copper-delivered broadband - later in the year. VDSL2 offers fibre optic-like speeds - provided you live practically on the doorstep of your local exchange or cabinet. Unlike fibre, bandwidth fades rapidly with distance.

Whisper to a screeching halt
Under the Telecommunications Act’s “local loop unbundling” (LLU) provisions, rivals are allowed to shift their own broadband hardware into Telecom exchanges, allowing them to bypass Telecom Wholesale and be in more control of the speed, and pricing, of their internet service.

There was a frenzy of unbundling activity last year, but it was almost exclusively confined to Auckland, and two just two providers: Orcon and Vodafone, who moved D-Slams into all 40 of Telecom’s exchanges in the city (and Vodafone teamed with Vector to build its own fibre optic links between the 40 Telecom exchanges, making its so-called “Red Network” further independent. In turn, Vodafone has wholesaled Red Network access to CallPlus; a milestone in deregulation).

Beyond Auckland, however, Orcon and Vodafone have only occupied two other exchanges, both in central Wellington (where they have been joined by Actrix).

And up until TelstraClear’s announcement this morning, LLU progress seemd to have stalled altogether.

Orcon and Vodafone both say they want clarity from the Commerce Commission on “sub-loop unbundling”, or the rental that Telecom Wholesale will charge them to access or install their own gear in its roadside "Whisper" fibre cabinets, currently being rolled out by the telco’s Chorus division.

If cabinet pricing is too high - as both Vodafone and Orcon complain it is in the commission’s draft proposal - and cabinets server half of urban areas, then it makes it uneconomic to unbundle further local exchanges, the pair say.

The commission is due to make its final determination on cabinet pricing this month.