Cross-network traffic on the rise: Commerce Commission

Changes to mobile termination rates enacted by the Commerce Commission last year to discourage telcos from favouring calls and texts on their own networks are paying off, according to the latest report from the Commerce Commission.

Since the new Standard Terms Determination (STD) was put in place in May 2011, cross-network traffic has increased 4%, from 16.4% to 20.4%, while SMS traffic has increased 9.1%, from 20.1% to 29.2%.

Discounts for on-network calls and texts have both decreased by over 10% in the same time period.

The Commerce Commission has conducted reviews every three months since enacting the changes, with an assessment on whether sufficient progress has been made due to take place after the one-year anniversary date.

"While encouraging progress has been made in increasing cross net traffic and decreasing on and off net price differentials, both measures do not align to international comparisons,” the report says.

For voice calling, average off-net revenue per minute has declined 9.7%, from $0.41 to $0.37, while on-net revenue has increased 9.5%, from $0.21 to $0.23. For SMS, average off-net revenue per message has declined 27.1% from $0.043 to $0.032; on-net revenue has also fallen, dropping 10.5% from $0.019 to $0.017.

Go here to download the full report.