Watchdog's Crown fibre investigation could raise pay TV, net neutrality issues

The Commerce Commission has released draft terms-of-reference for study that will seek to see if there are any “demand-side” issues that could hinder uptake of ultrafast broadband services under the government’s $1.35 billion UFB imitative.

For the draft, it seems the study could canvas some hot-button issues.

One of the commission’s goals is “To analyse the drivers of uptake of high speed fibre broadband access in other jurisdictions.”

This ties in with previous comments from telecommunications commissioner Ross Patterson, who has said that bundled pay TV services have been a key driver of faster internet uptake – or, in European countries where there is a monopoly pay TV provider with no incentive to offer cheaper service over fibre, a barrier to uptake.

(Communications Minister Steven Joyce has previously told NBR he does not see Sky TV as a “near monopoly, in part because it faces multi-platform threats as content producers find ways to directly reach audiences).

The draft also promises an investigation into net neutrality – an explosive legislative issue in the US.

Net neutrality advocates want all data treated (and billed) equality, and assert that phone companies’ ISPs often “shake” data such as Skype voice and video calls. Telcos habitually respond that they don’t molest any data but do “optimise” their own services. You say tomato … .

The study also promises “To analyse what steps, if any, need to be taken to promote effective competition for services requiring high bandwidth.”

Look for the likes of Tuanz, InternetNZ and Labour to see this as an opportunity to highlight and question the Telecommunication Amendment Bill’s 10-year regulatory holiday provision for Crown Fibre companies, and what they see as Crown Fibre Holding’s dual role as co-investor and sheriff.

Data caps - conspicuously absent from "template pricing" released by Crown Fibre Holdings so far, are another obvious area of focus.

As with all things Crown Fibre-related, the schedule stretches out to the horizon, with a final report not due until near Christmas.

Timing
Draft terms of reference: April 5
Final terms of reference: April 2011
Analysis and Research phase: April – June 2011
Discussion paper published: 30 June 2011
Consultation with interested parties: July/August 2011
Conference: October 2011
Final report published: 9 December 201