Term Definition 2 box model
(in the SOP)
Refers to the arrangement under which Telecom structurally separates into Chorus2 (network and some wholesale) and Telecom2 (retail and some wholesale), but is not required to set up separate business units within Chorus2 or Telecom2.
3 box model Refers to the current arrangement under Telecom’s Operational Separation Undertakings that requires
operational separation within Telecom between its network (Chorus), wholesale (Telecom Wholesale) and retail (Telecom) businesses.
3 year transition period (under the
SOP)
Refers to the 3 year transitional period for the copper regime.
10 year forbearance period (under the
SOP)
Refers to the 10 year period ending 31 December 2019 where the Commerce Commission is precluded from recommending regulation of particular fibre services.
Act The Telecommunications Act 2001.
Access seekers Access seekers are persons who purchase wholesale products to create retail services.
ADSL2+ The Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) equipment Telecom is deploying in its Fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) roll-out for its copper network to 84% of New Zealanders. Telecom has indicated that its ADSL2+ equipment will provide speeds of at least 10 Mbps.
Backhaul Backhaul refers to transmission capacity in a network between aggregation points.
Bill The Telecommunications (TSO, Broadband, and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
Cabinet Roadside cabinets which contain equipment for delivering broadband and other services to end users. Moving broadband electronics from the exchange to the cabinet (and therefore closer to the user) enables higher capacity broadband services to be delivered to the end user.
Chorus2 Telecom’s fixed network access business following structural separation. Indications are that the assets of Chorus2 will include the access network, the access network’s active electronics, most exchanges and regional backhaul links.
Chorus Copper Open access undertakings arising under the Supplementary
Undertakings These would replace the Operational Separation Undertakings that Telecom is currently subject to.
Clothed Unbundled Bitstream Access
(Clothed UBA)
The bundle including the regulated wholesale bitstream service provided by Telecom, where the end-user also purchases a Telecom Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) telephony service.
Cloud computing Cloud computing is shared resources, software and information located on remote servers accessed via the internet (as opposed to individual local servers).
Co-location A wholesale service providing access seekers with co-location space in a Telecom exchange or cabinet for the purpose of installing their own equipment.
Communal infrastructure
Network infrastructure which is deployed independently of any specific end-user commitment and which is not located on end-users’ sites or premises.
Concession period Refers to the 10 year concession period under the Preferred Commercial Model (PCM) for the UFB.
Cost based pricing Cost based pricing is a method for pricing wholesale
services which allows service providers to recover the cost of providing a service and a reasonable rate of return.
Commercially Viable Customers (CVC) and Commercially
Non-Viable Customers (CNVC)
Commercially viable customers and commercially non-viable customers: these labels relate to the commercial viability of providing standard copper-based residential telephony as required under the Telecommunications Service Obligations (TSO).
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
Digital Subscriber Line is a technology that allows high-speed transmission of data over copper telephone wires.
Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM)
The equipment located in either an exchange or a cabinet that enables the provision of broadband services over copper wires.
Equivalence (proposed in the Bill
and the SOP)
Equivalence of supply such that third-party access seekers are treated in the same, or an equivalent way, to the service provider's own business operations, including in relation to pricing, procedures, operational support, supply of
information, and other relevant matters.
Equivalence of input (EOI)
A standard for supply of services which requires exact equivalence between internal and external processes for supply of a service. The main difference from a general non-discrimination standard is the requirement to provide the same back office systems and processes for internal and external supply.
Exchange An exchange is a major node in the network where
equipment is housed to deliver broadband and Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) services to end users.
Fibre Access Services Undertakings
Access undertakings similar to those under the Chorus Copper undertakings, but relating to the fibre access network.
Fibre-to-the node (FTTN)
Fibre-to-the-node refers to a network upgrade that replaces the copper feeder (between the exchange and
cross-connect cabinet) with optical fibre and upgrades the cabinet to enable the installation of DSLAM equipment.
Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP)
Fibre-to-the-premises broadband:
(a) means a network structure used to deliver
telecommunications services over fibre media that connects a powered node in a central office location (an exchange or equivalent powered facility) to an end-user’s premises or building, or the optical distribution facility of an end-user’s premises or building; and
(b) includes the powered node in the central office location; and
(c) includes that part of the overall telecommunications link that connects to the end-user’s equipment.
Geographical averaging
Geographical averaging means setting the same price throughout the geographical footprint of New Zealand.
Independent Oversight Group
(EOG)
Refers to the body within Telecom, established pursuant to Telecom’s Operational Separation Undertakings, that monitors and reports on Telecom’s compliance with the Operational Separation Undertakings.
Layer 1 Normally associated with the passive infrastructure in a
network, and involves providing access seekers with access to physical infrastructure such as ‘dark’ (unlit) fibre or copper so they can create their own network services
Layer 2 Normally associated with the active infrastructure in a
network, and involves using equipment to enable a bitstream, allowing access seekers to provide end-to-end network services over the physical infrastructure
Layer 3 Normally associated with active infrastructure in a network,
and often involves providing “Internet protocol” services
Liable persons (proposed in the
Bill)
Means a person who provides a telecommunications service in New Zealand by means of some component of a Public Telecommunications Network (PTN) that is operated by the person.
Local access infrastructure
Refers to the parts of the networks between major national aggregation points and end users.
Local fibre companies (LFCs)
Joint venture companies set up under the Ultra-fast Broadband Initiative between Crown Fibre Holdings and
private parties to deploy and operate fibre networks.
Local Service TSO The series of obligations Telecom is obliged to meet under the terms of the Local Service TSO Deed, including network coverage and free local calling obligations.
Local Service TSO Deed
The TSO Deed for Local Residential Telephone Service of December 2001 between Telecom and the Government which sets out Telecom’s obligations under the Local Service TSO.
Megabits per second (Mbps)
Megabits per second is a measure of the speed of data transfer per second over a telecommunications medium.
Migration targets Refer to the targets included in the Operational Searation Undertakings for UCLL and UBA for migrating users from non-equivalent to equivalent services, and from the PSTN to next generation voice services.
National backhaul network
Infrastructure facilitating transmission in a network between major national aggregation points.
Network electronics Refers to the physical electronics that facilitate the
transmission of information over the copper or fibre infrastructure.
Non-discrimination (proposed in the Bill
and the SOP)
Non-discrimination means that a service provider must not treat access seekers differently, except to the extent that a particular difference in treatment is objectively justifiable and does not harm competition in any telecommunications market.
Operational separation
The restructuring of Telecom under the terms of Telecom’s Separation Undertakings provided to the Minister of
Communications and Information Technology on 25 March 2008.
Plain Old Telephone System (POTS)
A traditional analogue telephony service that is often provided together with a broadband service.
Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN)
A Public Switched Telephone Network is a dial-up telephone network used, or intended for use, in whole or in part, by the public for the purposes of providing telecommunications between telephone devices.
PSTN Migration Migration of customers from copper based PSTN services to
new generation voice services such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Public
Telecommunications Network (PTN) (proposed in the
Public Telecommunications Network: a network used, or intended to be used, in whole or in part, by the public for the purpose of providing telecommunications.
Bill)
Resale Resale is a retail service resold without the retailing
elements, such as customer service, which are provided by the access seeker.
Retail minus Retail-minus is a method for pricing wholesale services by discounting from the retail price the retailing costs that the access provider avoids by wholesaling.
Separation day Refers to the day when Telecom will formally separate into Telecom2 and Chorus2. This date will trigger many aspects of the regulatory regime under the SOP.
Sharing arrangements (under the SOP)
Refers to arrangements for the sharing of some assets/services/systems between Telecom2 and Chorus2 post separation.
Specified network (proposed in the
Bill)
A network that is declared to be a specified network under section 156AY of the Bill, in respect of which undertakings may be submitted under the regulatory framework of Part 2 of the Bill.
Supplementary Order Paper (SOP)
Supplementary order paper to the Telecommunications (TSO, Broadband, and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
Standard term determinations
Refers to regulatory decisions made by the Commerce Commission setting the terms of access to regulated services.
Structural Separation
The process whereby Telecom will divide into Telecom2 and Chorus, roughly splitting the network/wholesale and retail businesses.
Sub-loop Unbundled Copper Local Loop
(Sub-loop UCLL)
The pair of copper telephone wires that run from a distribution cabinet to the end-user’s premises.
Telecom Telecom New Zealand as it stands before any structural
separation.
Telecom2 The remainder of Telecom’s businesses following structural
separation. Indications are that the assets of Telecom2 will include national backhaul links, the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) assets, mobile and retail functions.
Telecom’s Separation Undertakings
Telecom’s Separation Undertakings, as provided to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology on 25 March 2008 in accordance with section 69K(2)(c) of the Act and as varied by agreement between Telecom and the Minister for Communications and Information Technology on or before 28 May 2010 in accordance with section 69U of the Act.
Telecommunications Development Levy
Telecommunications Development Levy which will be collected annually by the Crown from all liable persons and
(TDL) (proposed in the Bill)
will be used to pay any Telecommunications Service Obligations (TSO) charges, fund non-urban
telecommunications infrastructure development and
emergency calling service system upgrades, or toward any other purpose that would advance the purposes of the Act.
Telecommunications Services Obligations
(TSO)
Telecommunications Services Obligations: a statutory
process set out in Part 3 of the Act to provide for the delivery of telecommunications services that would not otherwise be delivered on a commercial basis or at an affordable price.
Telecommunications Services Obligations (TSO) Instruments
Agreements between service providers and the Crown for the supply of telecommunications services to groups of end-users within New Zealand to whom the services may not otherwise be supplied on a commercial basis or at an affordable price.
Total Service Long Run Incremental
Cost (TSLRIC)
A costing methodology commonly used to determine
efficient cost-based prices. This pricing methodology will be used in determining the price of UBA services after the transition period.
Unbundled Copper Local Loop (UCLL)
The pair of copper telephone wires that run from the exchange to the end-user’s premises.
Unbundled Bitstream Access
(UBA)
UBA is a wholesale bitstream data service. Access seekers use this service as an input into their retail broadband services. Naked UBA is UBA sold as a standalone service, while clothed UBA is UBA sold together with a Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) voice service.
VDSL Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) equipment (or a setting on DSL equipment) capable of delivering broadband over copper cables of 50 Mbps or better.
Wholesale backhaul Wholesale backhaul is a service that access seekers can
use to provide connectivity to take data from their Unbundled Copper Local Loop (UCLL) and Unbundled Bitstream
Access (UBA) services as far as the point at which they interconnect with Telecom’s network.
