If adhered to the boss of telecom major Orcon then soon the days of improving broadband price, speed and service may be a long lost call after the release of conditions for sub-loop unbundling.

Scott Bartlett, chief executive of Orcon confirmed that a sub-loop determination from the Commerce Commission today failed to protect the interests of broadband consumers. As an alternate, it took for a pricing structure that inevitably would lead to market domination by a single player.

Bartlett, said, "The commission's decision not only prices Telecom competitors out of the game, it also lacks any alternatives for continued investment in local loop unbundling, taking us back to the bad old days."

The terms including prices were released today by the commission, under which Telecom has to permit competitors access to the 3600 roadside cabinets it is deploying throughout the country. It should be noted that fiber optic cable is run from telephone exchanges to roadside cabinets, under cabinetization, shortening the length of copper lines to customers and allowing new, faster services.

It was confirmed by the commission that the access to the sub-loop services would permit Telecom's competitors to take advantage of the shorter copper telephone lines resulting from cabinetization.

The commission concluded, "In setting the price terms for the sub-loop services, the commission has balanced investment incentives of both Telecom and its competitors."

(via TopNews New Zealand. Contributed by Surjit Singh)