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Thread ID: 38458	2003-10-07 22:19:00	Does this Mean no more free local calling?	csinclair83 (200)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
181162	2003-10-07 22:19:00	i found this article on nzoom.com and do not really understand it but i guessing its a idea of stopping free loccal calling... Free local calls under fire Oct 08, 2003 A report by the Institute of Economic Research is recommending the abolition of Telecom's Kiwi Share obligation, which guarantees free local calls. The economic research house reckons the costs of what Telecom provides, since being privatised under the Kiwi Share Obligation (KSO), appear to outweigh the benefits. The report says that in the absence of the KSO, line rental would rise for a small group of customers, but likely fall for 80% of customers. The KSO was also set up to ensure residential telephone line rental didn't increase in real terms above the November 1989 level. It also requires Telecom to provide a connection to all homes, and dial-up internet access. NZIER director Brent Layton says the KSO model is hindering the roll out of broadband and wireless services. He says alternative networks find it difficult to compete especially in the regions, and New Zealanders are missing out on the technological investment that true competition brings. NZIER was commissioned by Telecom competitor Vodafone to do the study. It, along with other telcos in the New Zealand market, is set to pick up part of the tab for the KSO. But Layton says the NZIER is independent and stands by the conclusions in its report, "The economic impact of the Telecommunications Service Obligation". He says the report also cuts through arguments that the KSO helps low income families. "The KSO does not particularly benefit low income families. In fact, average household incomes in the areas which may benefit from the cap on monthly line rentals tend to be above the national average. "Similarly, our analysis shows that high income households are more likely to benefit from the free local call provision because they are more extensive users of dial-up internet access than others." The report suggests Telecom, in the absence of the KSO, might offer packages like a cap on the volume of free local calls per customer per month, or limit free calls to off-peak. Following the release of the report Vodafone has called for the Minister of Communications to launch a review of the KSO. Meanwhile, the Telecommunications Users Association says the KSO is well past its use-by date. TUANZ says there are other ways of subsidising remote customers and other companies should have the opportunity to supply regions and claim any subsidy for that region. The full text of the NZIER report is available on the Institute's website: www.nzier.org.nz	csinclair83 (200)
181163	2003-10-07 23:39:00	Yes - you can bet on it - but won't happen till just after the next general election regardless of who gets to hold the purse strings - and it won't be a topic for discussion during the run-up to the election. Have you ever heard of B-I-G business not getting what it wants? Privatisation is ok until things go wrong then the business community knocks on the taxpayers' door for a handout. Like railways - you and me are gonna have to pay for track maintenance because Transrail can't hack it. Ah well - down from the hobby horse!!	Gimme_DOS (4488)
181164	2003-10-08 00:32:00	it works well in australia i hear...20c a call or something.... it wont be good here due to all the dialups we have and all the d/cs we get...they just gonna be greedy... i assume this is a way of getting more ppl on adsl?	csinclair83 (200)
181165	2003-10-08 02:53:00	Well, sorry if you're offended, but this just makes me want to swear. A lot. So I'll try to keep my language free of profane words, but for the real effect, throw in a heck of a lot of swear words among the following sentences and you'll see what I really feel like... I don't see what in hell is wrong with free local calls. I mean for somethings sake, we are entitled to free calls. Why should we have to pay to phone someone who doesn't live more than 20 km away (or whatever the term 'local' is defined as). And you bet, this would spark uproar from dial-up users (like myself). We pay enough for badly serviced internet access with slow speeds as it is, without having to pay for the call to an ISPs servers. Argh, and I can't even be bothered to go on further... mostly because there isn't much more to my argument.	agent (30)
181166	2003-10-08 03:00:00	"local calling" is defined as region...like "manawatu" "bay of plenty" but some areas are hard like canterbury is one massive region, and its still a toll call to rangiora (hour or so drive north of chch) thats what i think it is... i would just not pay for the calls if that ever happens...and i'm sure everyone would just be agreeing basically... and i just remembered, telecom and telstra are in arguements for "freeing up wires" so they can have their own system....is this another thing that telecom wants to do to make profits?	csinclair83 (200)
181167	2003-10-08 03:04:00	The basic problem with "economists" is that they use computer models to work out what their theories will do. Unfortunately, to make the models simple enough to be calculated, they have to take out a lot of factors, and include a lot of assumptions. The omissions, and assumptions just happen to make sure that the models have no relationship to the real world.	Graham L (2)
181168	2003-10-08 05:47:00	It's a catch 22 for internet.. You end up paying to dialup to your ISP's modem-banks (I :x that word.. modem-bank - it just sounds so cool! I mean someone asks you how much you have in your bank, and you can reply with something like 52,000, they go YOUR JOKING RIGHT?!"..) Anyway.. What was I rambling on before I got sidetracked..? Oh yeah, the catch 22 On the other hand, I would say many dialup users that want ADSL are waiting for better options and services to become available. Those who are happy with dialup (eg: only do light browsing, minimal downloads and email) would get stung the most. At the end of the day I'd just have a phone line for adsl and use my mobile for the rest if it proves cheaper - just have to pay $20 for line-fees a month and whatever is done on the mob. CyberChuck...	cyberchuck (173)
181169	2003-10-08 08:30:00	Telecom have never liked the Kiwi Share which insists on free local calling, and would do anything to get rid of it. Just look what they do to senior citizens - talk them into a slightly reduced monthly line rental, then charge 20c per call. It doesn't take many calls for the poor old sod to end up paying more than the full rental.	rodb (1561)
181170	2003-10-08 19:29:00	just remember if you are on dial up and cant connect it will cost you per try also there will no doubt be a time limit so the poorer people on dial up will suffer who can afford tecoms rip off rates on dial up you use up to 2 gigs per month .	kiwibeat (304)
181171	2003-10-09 05:06:00	> Telecom have never liked the Kiwi Share which insists > on free local calling, and would do anything to get > rid of it. Dunno - they like it now (Computerworld (s0.tx.co.nz))	cyberchuck (173)
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