The Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand has been around for 30 years, and is a not-for-profit organisation.
Off the back of the latest option paper on the current review of the Telecommunications Act, TUANZ has released a statement, welcoming the opportunity to continue to provide users voice on the proposed changes.
"It's critical that in this very technical review of regulation of telecommunication services, that the voice of the user is heard as we are the ultimate consumer of the products which are now critical to our businesses and our everyday lives" says Craig Young, Chief Executive of TUANZ.
"It's encouraging that many of the options outlined in the paper reflect our submissions and align with our objectives of ensuring New Zealanders can access competitively priced, high quality connectivity.
However, the proposal to deregulate copper pricing within the UFB footprint requires a certain amount of work.
"Having worked so hard as an organisation to advocate for regulation to be applied to the copper access network to ensure competition and fairer outcomes for users, it's critical that we take time to ensure that the removal of this regulation will not be a backwards step for New Zealanders," explains Young.
Other decisions such as maintaining the Telecommunications Service Obligation outside the UFB footprint are also welcome, given the critical importance of those services to rural communities and businesses.
"We now look forward to hearing back soon from the Government on the other issues we raised in the review around consumer protection and dispute processes, as well as other aspects of the communications market.
