Unfortunatly TV3 didn't stream the debate that followed, though some enterprising people have made it available:
NZ:
http://sneep.net/CL-Broadband.avi or
http://www.blakjak.net/adsl/CL-Broadband.avi
Non-NZ:
http://wibble.focb.co.nz/CL or
http://www.vonfluffy.net/files/CL-Broadband.avi
Google Video coming soon.
Personally, I think this is all long over due. Telecom are seriously holding up broadband in NZ. I'm not entirely convinced that unbundling the local loop is the answer, even though it's been done in all but one other OECD country (Mexico?). If I recall correctly, in Australia, unbundling did very little, it wasn't until Telstra's entire(?) country-wide backbone was made available to other ISPs (wholesale, at cost, aka level playing field) that Broadband took off in Aussie.
Telecom's UBS (Unbundled Bit Stream?) service is kind of like unbundling the local loop, but still has the drawbacks of:
- Telecom dictate speed (up and down)
- Telecom dictate base price
- ISP's still need (expencive, non-resiliant, archiach) connectivity between Telecom and their own networks, so that they can route the ADSL users over their own connections.
It's time the Commerce Commission got out it's big stick and gave Telecom a hard time. Tax payers paid for the "last mile" when Telecom was still Government owned. And while (to my understanding) Telecom's NGN (fiber/IP) network has been paid for by profits (since privitisation), it's aging ATM network (which must be used by ISPs for the UBS service!) was paid for by Tax Payers...
BTW Campbell Live then took on the duopoly of Telecom & Vodafone (showing that just one other competitor isn't really enough) in the cellphone war... Yes, NZ has the 2nd highest pricing on the OECD! Hmm... TV3 is going to start loosing sponsors... :0
