There should be a small lift in average prices Chorus could charge for the use of its copper lines but it would be largely offset by other changes.
When the commission announced its final pricing process decision on unbundled copper local loop (UCLL) and unbundled bitstream access (UBA), it would be the end of a long saga. However, it was still only setting prices until 2020, he said.
Assuming no backdating, Chorus would have to consider appealing the decision as well as the appropriate dividend policy for the future.
‘‘With backdating being a $75million revenue decision by the Commerce Commission, the Chorus board will need to seriously consider appealing any decision not to backdate.
''Chorus has 20 working days to challenge the decision which must be based on a question of law - basically arguing the commission has misinterpreted the law.''
Chorus had already challenged the commission's proposed pricing of non-recurring charges for UBA and UCLL.
The impact of the draft pricing would be to reduce Chorus' revenue by about $1 million a month and set some prices it charged below Chorus' input costs, Mr Young said.
‘‘There are many moving parts in Chorus' 2016 financial result. We know there are changes in prices Chorus can charge.
''An additional factor is customer losses as Chorus customers move to the fibre services of other local fibre companies.''Chorus would provide telecommunications access infrastructure to the majority of New Zealand for the next generation, he said.
While near-term focus was on the final pricing process, there remained further catalysts for the company before it became a stable utility, he said.
The uncertainty caused by the price review was coming to an end but it was just one of several milestones over the next few years.
‘‘We expect some volatility for Chorus as each milestone approaches and is passed.''Chorus on Friday said it had completed 100,000 mass market fibre connections.
Chief executive Mark Ratcliffe said demand for fibre continued to remain high and addressing those challenges remained his top priority.
‘‘Meaningful progress has been made during the last few months, both within Chorus and in collaboration with our industry partners.''In May, Chorus announced the company was taking steps to improve the fibre installation process as demand for fibre became mainstream.
The changes included increasing the number of fibre crews, taking greater ownership of fibre forecasting and establishing a new contact centre to confirm appointments and ensure customers fully knew what to expect during an installation. Chorus also launched a higher level of service for business connections, he said.
As a result of the progress made, Chorus built about 8000 new fibre connections nationally in November compared to about 6000 in September. November was the highest number of connections Chorus had completed in a month.
One of the biggest challenges was recruiting people quickly enough to meet the growing demand and training them to do installations that were as complex as adding any other utility to a property, he said.
It took between three to six months to train a new fibre technician as it required many skills. It took six months more for the technician to become fully competent and productive.
‘‘As demand looks set to grow even further, we will continue to recruit and train as fast as we possibly can.
‘‘While I am pleased with the progress that has been made with our overall changes, clearly there is still more work to be done before New Zealanders' experience meets expectations.''
