New Zealand's telecommunications industry is in for the largest shake-up for many years as the Government pushes to have most people on ultra-fast broadband and 4G mobile by 2020.
Pricing will be a key part of the review as the phasing out of New Zealand's copper network continues.
Major industry players have welcomed the Government's review in an effort to future-proof New Zealand's communications regulation.
Spark and Chorus, who are at opposite sides of pricing decisions by the Commerce Commission, say the review is future-focused and recognises the changes occurring since the current regulation framework was put into place in 2001.
Spark general manager, regulation, John Wesley-Smith said key issues included how to set the wholesale charges all service providers paid the monopoly fibre companies to connect their customers to fibre broadband and the process for eventually switching off the old copper network for broadband and voice services in favour of the new ultra-fast broadband fibre network.
''Giving service providers and network operators a clear picture of the costs we will face from 2020 on will allow us to focus on ensuring we bring the best of new products, services and innovation to New Zealanders.''
Chorus, which is undertaking the majority of the UFB roll-out, has been under fire for its pricing and is battling the Commerce Commission on some of its rulings.
Chorus general counsel Vanessa Oakley said the proposals from the Government represented another step towards enabling better broadband for New Zealanders.
''We agree there is a strong case for a utility-style building block model of regulation. Faster broadband is fundamental to New Zealand's future. Chorus has made a tremendous amount of progress in bringing better broadband to New Zealand.''
In recent years, the company had invested nearly $2billion in fibre capacity with more investment to come, she said.
It was in nobody's interest to have regulatory processes potentially every year which produced price shocks and uncertainty.
''Long-term investment in infrastructure and services, as well as an industry and end-user transition, requires stability and price certainty for everyone.''
The review was an opportunity to set the industry up for success for the future and enable it to focus on end users' changing needs, Ms Oakley said.
Communications Minister Amy Adams said private sector investment in high-quality communications infrastructure, such as broadband and mobile networks, was important to deliver better connectivity to Kiwis.
The more certainty communications sector investors had about the regulatory environment, the better placed they were to deliver more technology choices for consumers.
New Zealanders had embraced streaming video on demand which was just the start of what the next generation of broadband could deliver, she said.
By 2022, at least 80% of New Zealanders would have access to fibre and 90% would have 4G mobile coverage.
For that reason, it was vital the right regulatory system were in place to support the future of communications in New Zealand from 2020, Ms Adams said.
At a glance
• Government announces review of the Telecommunications Act. Submissions close on October 27.
• Technology and customer needs are changing quickly and the regulatory system needs to be flexible and up to date.
• Regulatory system was designed for a different era and needs a health check to make sure it will work well in the future competitive environment.
• Price-setting processes for broadband have been long and unpredictable. How can they be simplified?
