Media release : July 2 1999

INTERNET SOCIETY DEBATES TELECOM INTERNET CHANGES

The Internet Society of New Zealand (ISOCNZ) is today consulting it's members on the final position stakeholders wish to take on the changes announced recently by Telecom. "After some delays in getting all the appropriate people around the table, The Internet Society and Telecom held productive discussions last Friday" said Executive Director, Sue Leader.

"The Industry let us know they had serious concerns about the announced changes, and we were able to draw together a list of thirty-three questions we wanted Telecom to answer", she said. "Those questions were delivered to Telecom with a request for meeting two days after the June 11 announcement. With the time delay in getting people's schedules meshed, we were able to refine the questions into key subject areas and these were delivered to Telecom three days before last Friday's meeting".

At the meeting the Internet Society pushed for an extension to migration deadlines, confirmation that all costs associated with the change would be met, and that smaller ISP's would not be penalised by having to find cash up-front. Telecom has confirmed that it is now "currently considering [the timeframe] issue" and will meet "any legitimate costs" associated with the move. The cash-flow point was well taken and will be considered on as "case-by-case basis".

"The Internet Society is pleased to have written responses from Telecom to add to our meeting notes" said ISOCNZ Chair, Jim Higgins. "We had productive discussions with the Telecom representatives, and now are in a position to discuss the situation with our members in an informed manner" said Higgins. "We're not too happy with the time this has taken, but we acknowledge that working through the issues with Telecom to gain some positive outcomes for the industry is time well spent" he finished.

The Internet Society is targeting next Monday (July 5) for the public release of a final position statement. "If, as seems likely at this stage, there is a need to approach the Minister over the KiwiShare issue, we will move swiftly once the consultation process is complete" Leader concluded.

Ends

© 1999 The Internet Society of New Zealand