Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : The New Qualcomm - write what you like thread. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (2240)	10/4/2000 9:28:27 PM
From: marginmike	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12245

Where is post on Slide presentation? what did #15 say?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (2240)	10/5/2000 5:34:47 PM
From: Drew Williams	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12245

New Zealand Telecom Reined In wired.com New Zealand Telecom Reined In by Kim Griggs 9:45 a.m. Oct. 4, 2000 PDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- For proponents of economic liberalization, New Zealand has been a leading light for more than a decade. In terms of economic freedoms, New Zealand is ranked higher even than the United States in the annual survey by the Cato and Fraser Institutes. The country deregulated its telecommunications market early and extensively. It needed to -- a little over a decade ago, New Zealanders used to wait more than a month for a new phone line. And New Zealand's telecommunications has had no regulation other than the overarching competition law. But now a government-ordered inquiry has taken a seven-month look at New Zealand's telecommunications industry. Its report, released today, advocates new regulations specifically for the telecommunications industry. The report calls its suggestions "light-handed" and intended to encourage self-regulation; an industry group is the first step in solving problems. But it would be something entirely new for New Zealand to have a stand-alone regulator to rule on industry disputes. This, the report points out, is hardly a startling idea. "As other countries have moved to privatize and deregulate, none have followed New Zealand's approach of almost exclusive reliance on general competition law," the report says. "Without exception, they have opted for industry-specific regulation." That New Zealand's telecommunications industry would be more tightly regulated has been in the cards since the center-left Labor Alliance government came to power last November. Tightening competition laws was part of its election platform. The government's political opposition is unimpressed. The National Party’s communications spokesman, Lockwood Smith, thinks an industry regulator would strangle innovation, something he says has been the experience overseas. "Despite best intentions, no one has stopped them growing into big bureaucracies." And New Zealand's Telecom, formerly the state-owned carrier, has also criticized the report's recommendation for a regulator, calling it a "highly retrograde step" for New Zealand. "Indeed, the Inquiry panel seems intent on introducing old-style, heavy-handed regulation of telecommunications which is 10 years out of date," Telecom executive Bruce Parkes said. Telecom rival Telstra-Saturn, one of the newer entrants into the New Zealand market, considers the report fair. "We might not necessarily agree with every detail but are more than able to focus on the many positives the report contains," said Telstra's spokesman Quentin Bright. That the government plans to enact many of the report's recommendations is almost certain. Minister of Communications Paul Swain said the government's formal response to the report will be made by December. "I want to get any necessary legislative changes under way by then as well," Swain said.