Scarily scarily, I say unto you.

But it makes you wonder, why would these Pollies DO this to their country? Are…

Time to dust off the blackout avatars again, methinks.

Apparently every time you download a song, someone in christchurch has to poop in a bucket.

Anyone with the legal brain want to tell me how this rushed through legislation varies from the earlier attempts at the same?

Classic. Says a lot about this this government's disdain for notions like "independent":

One part of the legislation allegedly breaching the trade accords is the "regulatory holiday", which removes Commerce Commission oversight of the UFB network until the end of 2019.

Under the planned law,…

That's a good point. A lot of the residents of 180 Molesworth Street aren't holders of "the office of Constable", they're analysts and various other support functionaries required to keep…

Heh. Let me get that fixed.

None of them would dream of running their private bureaucracies without a head…

I can see it now…
Scene: Road side pullover,
Officer; “Good evening Sir can I see your documentation pertaining to your qualification to engage in the practice of driving?”
Driver: “What?”…

You mean like when the head of Mainfreight suggests that Police National HQ should be closed down and the residents distributed to the front line? What’s scary is that the likes of Joyce listen to such men.

I…

having wages 30 per cent behind Australia's was an "advantage" in luring jobs and capital here.

For the last 20mumble years we have had the neocons tell us that if wages drop we will become more competitive. And if I am not mistaken,…

A search of the Radio Spectrum Management site for "liquidation" proves fruitless, as does reading their policies.

Of course an on-to-it Opposition would have asked this by now.…

A lot of commercial contracts have a clause that voids them if one party enters liquidation/bankruptcy. I wonder whether spectrum licenses do (or whether, in keeping with the mug-punter approach of the NZ government generally, they forgot).

As for the case above was settled and the lady has been snapped up by a larger company but I've heard of other abuses too.

I haven't been a reader since the Hobbit debate. I have to be honest in that I didn't really understand what was going on with it and nothing I read gave me a clearer understanding. Everyone was very emotive and involved.

I've since spoken to people I know…

And possibly Joyce was motivated by a desire to do a favour for his old business. But what of the rest of Cabinet? Why should they care?…

How is saying they are incompetent 'sticking up for' them?

But it is in terms of caring for yourself and your cohorts and not giving a shit about others, a survivalist mode. Very un-evolved, which was the point of the article.
Stick…

no, they are not

Very good point. This government certainly operates on an old ideology that looks at failed policies to achieve outdated results.
Who knows, will the new economy have a more realistic attitude to the, so called, [[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10718630 |…

Do I see a divide between the 'old economy' and the 'new economy' here?

Doh!!!
What I meant to say was "Other lists of companies that may lose out somewhere would not include the likes of Fulton Hogan..."
I don't know how I slipped up that badly.
:-$

Yet they are still supporters?
Deluded fools.

Last time, it got to the point where NBR ran an editorial endorsing Labour policy on local loop unbundling.

Dictators overrate their ability to bargain. Businesses see them as a soft touch – you only need to convince one person, so you just do a full-court-press on them. Not many people…

It's not that black or white. Sensible business people are also unimpressed by the way this government are behaving, as Russell notes.

You will notice, of course, that that list does not include Telecom. Other lists of companies that may lose out somewhere are the likes of Fulton Hogan…

isn't that the point?

And the not-at-all-secret secret agenda. Really, folks, this is sounding like the script for Saw, Part 69 — it's all awfully familiar, but still doesn't make any sense.

That is not a contradiction if "They" include their business mates.
It is just another example of "Us and Them"
The Government has become that two headed monster they like to call a PPP
Fuckn' Li'l P heads.

I do wonder if Joyce’s dictatorial style is going to come back and bite…

Some of the shit will be transported to apply to the urban customers in the spirit of equality and fairness that is a hallmark of the telecommunications industry.

I've seen the same contradiction uttered on Te Standard, and it's part of what worries me about the left's chances:

they're a "do nothing" government – except…

I think it's flattering them to call it a plan as such. What they have is a mindset (I hesitate to label it as ideology) that colours all their…

Sigh...
Sacha, Since when have you started campaigning for National? They are a do nothing Government, well, nothing of any use to the country as…

After Mediaworks had opened their books, and Deloittes had found that they didn't need our money, Joyce took a paper to Cabinet arguing that unless they got a deal, they would default on their payments and go into liquidation.…

That seems to be a common misconception on the left – of course this government have a plan. You're watching it.

Voters, you did realise that public television is 'nice to have' right?

Yes, you'd have expected this government if anyone to differentiate service levels to match revenue timing.…

That seems plausible. Thanks.

A little while later, MED realised that when the government lets someone pay a fee over time and charges interest on it, that’s a loan and requires the Minister of Finance’s approval under the Public Finance…

I can understand the government needing to bail out a bank, Air New Zealand, maybe even a telco.

But why should one of our numerous commercial radio operators be so important as to justify a bailout? If they'd gone…

Same – though that industry seems better placed for non-disruptive ownership changes than many others are.

But the things that Idiot/Savant has found are shaping up as a significant story.

For that we have Joyce's dodgy dealings over Mediaworks – and Idiot/Savant is delving into OIA responses that among other things show that it was not Key who over-rode official advice against lending out dosh at favourable rates. And that the company…

Well, in theory there is. Each fibre strand is split into 24 connections (residential) or 12 or 6 (business). Unbundling takes place after the…

Is that right?

In other news, while the UFB bill is still at select committee, two parties are calling for amendments to reach bi-partisan support.

Labour's Clare Curran last Thursday:

Phil Goff has written to the…

Unless "free" trade agreements like TPPA allow foreign-owned corporates to sue our government. Not local companies, just overseas ones, mind.

When would this regulatory holiday start if proposed completion is in 2014 ?

With the threat of repeal coming after a change in government, what length of regulatory holiday would I realistically be betting on…

So I am (now) told.

Because individual fibre does not go back the the exchange,
there is no way for anyone else to physically access it, only at the Ethernet layer. So no wholesale competition no wholesale price competition, no technological competition.…

Thanks Rex and no, I don't think the NBN's a rosy open market. Kind of hoped that NZ, starting later, would do better. That's all.

You'll recall generally right-wing thinker Rod Drury proposing some years ago a government-owned, fair access, cost-plus, wholesale network because it just made more sense.

If we insist on private monopolies then…

Another reason why bipartisan agreement…

It's no more inconsistent than some of Rodney Hide's changes to local government legislation to allow 35 year private water contract terms, and no doubt some of the outcomes from the corporate farming water-grab in Canterbury after ECan…

I had understood that an established constitutional principle was that governments/parliament could not legislate in a manner which binds future governments. If this is the case, how is a proposed 10 year regulatory 'holiday' consistent with…

I think you need to substitute another word for 'taxing' in that sentence.

How about 'rorting', or 'ripping off', or 'funding the bonuses of senior managers and dividends to shareholders through excess profits…

applause

You ask why Mr Joyce believes a holiday to be necessary. I believe this to be simple…

Oh boo hoo. As someone who's subject to Telstra's predatory pricing* I hope they go on fretting and, frankly, that they get done like a dog's dinner. As for the NBN, don't be fooled... as [[http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/04/3181224.htm|the…

The regulatory holiday highway

/ducks

They could call it Skynet and get Arnie to come out and launch it.

I’m proposing a merger between Sky and Telecom, so no one else in the country really needs to be in business at all.

Um why?

No really this is a serious question. If it is necessary can anyone explain why?

Is the proposal for some reason already known to breach consumer protections in such a way that the commerce commission would immediately act?

Eleven Telcos, Consumer Groups Unite Against UFB Bill

In an unprecedented move, 11 of New Zealand’s major telecommunications companies and the country’s leading consumer advocate groups have united to oppose the Government’s proposed UFB Bill.

The group, including Vodafone, 2 Degrees, TelstraClear, Call Plus, Kordia/Orcon, Opto…

And I should also add that a shiny fibre network is a fat lot of use without more undersea cables, given that NZ imports and exports most of its data. It's like building 14-lane highways when what we need…

Because they're providing a thin layer with negligible added value and scope for innovation. All things being equal, the larger providers are going to have lower…

Sky just has it too bloody sweet in this country. With their inclusion of advertising on their pay channels, we are effectively paying twice (subscription + time displacement) and they have wilfully given away…

The oldies we don't talk about them much but all this stuff just overwhelms and freaks…

Which speaks to the content issue I mentioned in the post.

In Britain, Virgin can sell you a cable TV…

Not quite meaningless, but those questions were the first in my mind too. Unless a cap is just plain "so high it hardly matters" (which my American colleagues seem to enjoy), it's a vital part of the calculation. If…

I checked again with ISPs; assuming they're not telling fibs, their margins are around $60 per…

Fibre will be expensive to install the govt contribution is large but only…

Which is where that Commerce…

Business – "I would like to use that shiny new fibre, it might make me money, but I can't afford it right now.."

It's not clear how many customers are going to be convinced to…

Which is odd, but presumably those are deemed matters for…

Quite – but having said that I wish Drinnan would either STFU or just get his facts right. I’m a little sick of the Herald editorially pontificating about transparency and competition,…