On February 17th a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) was released that included legislative changes needed to the UFB and RBI projects, as well as the changes that would apply if Telecom was to structurally separate.

TUANZ and InternetNZ asked for an extension because the length and complexity of the SOP (77 pages) meant “we were struggling to do a thorough and robust job of reviewing it in the time available,” said TUANZ.

“The Minister's office and the MED have notified me that we will indeed be getting an extension to submissions on the Telecommunications Amendment Bill and its subsequent Supplementary Order Paper,” TUANZ Chief Executive Paul Brislen said.

The deadline for submission is now March 11th.

“There's plenty to get our teeth into and now we have the time to do just that.”

According to one proposed change, the government would be able to buy back shares of Telecom.