The Commerce Commission has announced it will review whether Telecom New Zealand faces “limited competition in the provision of the unbundled bitstream access service”.

The service allows teleco operators to supply a range of broadband services and gives them the ability to differentiate their retail products from Telecom's retail broadband services. It became subject to a competition test last December.

The Commerce Commission says that Telecom is required to supply the regulated UBA service to other operators throughout New Zealand.

“Where the Commission finds that Telecom faces limited competition in an area, then the regulated UBA service will remain available in that area,” it says. “In other areas where Telecom is not found to face limited competition, then it is likely that Telecom would no longer be required to provide the regulated service.”

The Commission is seeking information from providers and purchasers of wholesale broadband services, including Telecom, which it will consider before releasing a draft review report in mid-September.