Copper Services Investigation
We are required to complete an Investigation into the regulation of certain copper services contained in Schedule 1 of the Telecommunications Act 2001 (the Act) by no later than 31 December 2025.
Scope of the Investigation
Section 69AH of the Act sets out that we must either investigate the copper services or provide reasons as to why there were not reasonable grounds for investigating.
Due to the changes in the markets for voice and internet services and the length of time since these services were last reviewed (2016), we are of the view that we should proceed to an investigation.
Following our investigation, we can recommend either adding, omitting or amending a service in Schedule 1 (as outlined in sections 66 and 67 of the Act).
Four copper services are listed in section 69AH but one of them encompasses two services, meaning the five copper services in scope of our investigation are:
- Chorus’s unbundled bitstream access (UBA)
- Chorus’s unbundled copper low frequency service (UCLF)
- Chorus’s unbundled bitstream access backhaul (UBA Backhaul)
- Chorus’s unbundled copper local loop network co-location (UCLL Co-location)
- Chorus’s unbundled copper local loop network backhaul - telephone exchange to interconnect point (UCLL Backhaul).
Our final recommendation was provided to the Minister on 21 August 2025, that copper regulation is no longer needed to promote competition in areas where it remains and should be omitted from Schedule 1 of the Telecommunications Act 2001 (Act).