Telecom NZ representative Mark Ratcliffe has made a public statement regarding the company's planned operational separation.
Ratcliffe, chief operating officer technology and enterprises, was commenting after the release of the final Determination on operational separation, by which a standalone network access unit (ANS) will be established as part of an operationally separated Telecom NZ next year.
"Our initial assessment of the Determination indicates that it represents a demanding multi-year program of significant change for Telecom NZ and the industry. The next step is for Telecom NZ to produce a detailed set of undertakings and implementation plan, and we will be focusing every effort on this for the next four weeks.
Ratcliffe said the final Determination does not change Telecom NZ's tentative view on the financial costs associated with operational separation.
"As we indicated on 3 August when our 2006/07 result was published, compliance with operational separation is likely to cost Telecom NZ around NZ$200 million in capital expenditure over the next four years, with operational costs of up to NZ$40 million per annum over this same period.
"We will have a clearer view on this capital and operational spending when the final details of operational separation have been settled later this year.
Ratcliffe said there had been no discussions with government officials regarding the company selling ANS.
"We have had discussions with officials to help them to prepare the Minister's determination, but we haven't been in any negotiations to sell the network."
He added that operational separation will bring changes for a number of Telecom NZ's staff, as ANS is established and other features of the plan are implemented.
"We do not anticipate any net change in overall staff numbers, and indeed we are currently recruiting for technical staff to help implement the changes associated with operational separation.
