Supreme Court rules on decade-old Telecom, ComCom dispute
The Supreme Court has nailed shut a long-running dispute over a controversial dial-up internet surcharge used during the 1990s.The Commerce Commission has, since 1999, sought to bring Telecom to task for its 0867 dial code package, which it claimed was a
Nina Fowler
Wed, 01 Sep 2010
The Supreme Court has nailed shut a long-running dispute over a controversial dial-up internet surcharge used during the 1990s.
The Commerce Commission has, since 1999, sought to bring Telecom to task for its 0867 dial code package, which it claimed was a prohibited use of Telecom’s dominant market position.
The High Court and Court of Appeal both ruled in Telecom’s favour – and the Supreme Court today upheld that decision.
It found that the commission was unable to show that Telecom acted as a dominant firm when it brought in the 0867 package.
Rather, Telecom was able to show that any firm acting competitively, dominant or not, would have introduced a scheme similar to the 0867 package.
The commission was ordered to pay Telecom $50,000 in costs.
The use of a hypothetical competitive market to decide the case is an approach used previously by the Privy Council and High Court of Australia.
“It is important that the approach to the issue ... be broadly the same on both sides of the Tasman,” the Supreme Court judges said in their decision.
On the bench for the case were Chief Justice Sian Elias and Justices Peter Blanchard, Andrew Tipping, John McGrath and Noel Anderson.
More on the long-running spat – and historical oddity 0867 – can be found here.
Nina Fowler
Wed, 01 Sep 2010
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