Decision time.

Well. It actually happened. Communications Minister David Cunliffe was forced this evening to announce that the Government will be taking action to get Telecom to open up access to the local loop for broadband connections.

Story links: Press release, NZHerald, Stuff, Wiki on Local Loop Unbundling(LLU)

Always first off the post David Farrar said that the Cabinet decision (pdf) (update: pdf link seems to have disappeared, 4 hours later) "looks to be very good. Maybe even excellent". It is. It's wonderful. Well, it's got potential at least.

Details are a little sketchy since Telecom managed to get hold of the decision, supposed to be a Budget Secret, hours after the Cabinet Committee signed off. There's no time frame, no real "blueprint" as Anette Presley of Slingshot said on Campbell Live tonight. Unfortunately for Cunliffe, there'll be a lot of pressure on him to outline the timeframe and details of the unbundling. Less importantly to the public, but probably top of his mind, is how the damn thing got into Telecom's hands in the first place. Good on them for owning up straight away, but Telecom has a lot of power in Wellington and it would be hard for whoever who did it to argue they were doing it for reasons other than to give chums at Telecom the quick heads up, and to deny the Labour government of an opportunity to deliver a real juicy morsel in its budget.

Will be interesting to watch.

On a slightly more "*sigh*, the right-wing always finds a way to complain" sort of way, was some of the blog feedback. Michael Ellis firstly at KiwiBlog, then on his own site, is demanding on behalf of Telecom compensation for the LLU.

To the tune of $500 million.

Excuse me?

Firstly, Telecom is a monopoly. A monopoly that has been dragging it's heels on broadband speed and price, and that has at the very least been obsfucating the public wanting to connect via another isp. Plus their online services, websites especially, are eternally frustrating.

Secondly, their propertly isn't being confiscated. It isn't being blocked by the government.

And finally, it's not about Telecom. It's about New Zealand. I know that sounds like a load of toss, but its true. The sale of the corporation was a mistake, done badly. Now someones got to fix it if we want to stop being compared to Mexico as an equivalent first world country.

Somebody is fixing it, or at least starting to. Let's hope they pull it off.