Gazette.govt.nz1. The Commerce Commission (“Commission”) gives notice under section 179(1) of the Telecommunications Act 2001 (“Act”) that it is beginning work on potential amendments to the Fibre Input Methodologies Determination 2020 [2020] NZCC 21 (“fibre IMs”).
2. In accordance with section 179 of the Act, this notice outlines the scope of potential amendments under consideration, and the proposed process and indicative timeframes for considering and consulting on the potential amendments to the fibre IMs.
Scope of Potential Amendments Under Consideration
3. We are currently in the process of determining the price-quality path for Chorus Limited (“Chorus”) for its second regulatory period (from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2028) under section 170 of the Act.
4. In the course of that process, we have identified amendments to the expenditure-related fibre IMs that:
- may better give effect to the Part 6 purpose in section 162 of the Act more effectively than the current fibre IMs; and
- may promote the IM purpose in section 174 more effectively.
5. The potential amendments relate to expenditure proposals and processes that we consider appropriate to address ahead of Chorus’ second regulatory period (as opposed to waiting for the statutory review of the Fibre Input Methodologies under section 182 of the Act).
Potential amendments to expenditure-related fibre IMs
6. We are considering two discrete amendments, namely:
- amending the timeframe in clause 3.7.24 for individual capex design proposals under the fibre IMs; and
- amending the fibre IMs to enable us to ensure the revenue Chorus recovers under an individual capex allowance that we determine under clause 3.7.28 of the fibre IMs is consistent with that determination.
Proposed Timeframes for Potential Fibre IM Amendments
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Process |
Indicative timeframe |
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|
1. |
Draft decision by the Commission Draft decision on potential amendments to the expenditure-related fibre IMs published |
By the end of quarter 2, 2024 |
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2. |
Submissions due from interested persons on potential amendments to the expenditure-related fibre IMs (4 weeks) |
Quarter 3, 2024 |
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3. |
Cross-submissions due from interested persons on potential amendments to the expenditure-related fibre IMs (2 weeks) |
Quarter 3, 2024 |
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4. |
Final decision by the Commission Final decision on potential amendments to the expenditure-related fibre IMs |
Quarter 4, 2024 |
Updates and any process refinements will be published on the Commission’s website: https://comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/fibre/projects/chorus-fibre-price-quality-path-from-2025.
Note: This notice replaces the notice published in the New Zealand Gazette, 14 February 2024, Notice No. 2024-au511.