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THE POLITICS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORM IN NEW ZEALAND
Abstract
This paper presents an historical account of the reforms to New Zealand's telecommunications policy which have occurred since 1986. The history is set around three stages: the period leading up to the review of the New Zealand Post Office in 1986; the corporatisation and subsequent privatisation of Telecom New Zealand in 1990; and, the implementation of the so-called ‘light-handed’ regulatory regime since 1990. This paper focuses on the period up to 1990 to address the question why telecommunications reform took place in New Zealand. It is argued that the ideological disposition of the New Zealand Treasury was very influential in determining the outcomes of the reform process. This paper also makes some observations on the broader political aspects of the reform process.
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NOTES AND REFERENCES
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This theme was evident at the Pacific Telecommunications Council's October Seminar held in Auckland, 15–16 October 1992
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The Baumol-Willig Rule is also known as the Efficient Component Pricing Rule and Parity Principle. It is a rule for determining interconnection prices, under which the price is composed of the incremental costs of providing the interconnection service plus the profit (including contribution to common costs) that the network operator forgoes by selling interconnection rather than the final service which is served by interconnection.
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I am indebted to Brian Easton for this point - private communication, November 1994.
R Mulgan,‘The Changing Electoral Mandate’, in M Holland and J Boston (eds), The Fourth Labour Government, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1992, pp. 11–21
J Newby, ‘Failure of the New Zealand Experiment’, in S Rees, G Rodley and F Stillwell (eds), Beyond the Marklet: Alternatives to Economic Rationalism, Pluto Press, Leichhardt, NSW, 1993, pp. 163–170. This point was confirmed in discussion with Steve Maharey, MP, New Zealand Parliament.
T Hyde, ‘How they sold telecom why they sold telecom’, Metro, September 1991, pp. 55–69
B Easton, ‘From Rogernomics to Ruthanasia: New Right Economics in New Zealand’, in S Rees, G Rodley and F Stillwell (eds). op.cH., 149–162
Brian Easton, ibid., pp. 149–162
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T Hyde, op. cit., p. 62
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