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I've stated on numerous occasions that the cost of business DSL in NZ was all out of proportion with that of non-business broadband, but I suspect it wasn't my ranting that caused Telecom to review its rates.

More likely, it was the fact that a few government politicians have also woken up to this fact and started making noises about further regulations to force Telecom's hand.

So now business will be able to get a full-speed DSL connection with 10GB data-cap for as little as $150 a month, that's great right?

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Of course it's great -- but I'm left wondering what exactly is going on, or has been going on here.

If Telecom can actually afford to deliver a 10GB full-speed DSL connection for $150 and still make a sensible profit, exactly how much profit were they making last week when the same connection used to cost over $900?

I strongly doubt that Telecom will be offering business DSL at a loss simply to sate the government's desire that commerce has an affordable option. It's far more likely (as I've suggested previously) that the business DSL rates were nothing more than blatant profiteering and an abuse of monopoly.

So if as appears to be the case, Telecom has been abusing its DSL monopoly to gouge businesses by selling DSL at a profit margin in excess of 500%, surely those companies who've been racking up bills of tens of thousands of dollars a year have a right to claim some of that back.

Or perhaps Telecom can explain exactly what piece of new technology, what new sourcing contract, or other factor has suddenly reduced their costs by a factor of five?

Now I'm sure that there are some readers (possibly from within the halls of Telecom) who'll be saying "why are you whining, didn't the prices just come down?", to which my answer is -- should you politely thank someone who's been beating you with an iron bar for the last five years -- just because he's suddenly stopped?

By its own actions, Telecom would appear to have provided irrefutable proof that it's been gouging the market for years -- something which surely disqualifies them from the control of any essential monopoly such as the PSTN copper and DSL network.

If the company is prepared to profiteer to the extent is has been, how on earth can we trust it to be fair when dealing with the issue of wholesaling DSL fairly to other providers when it has its own DSL retailer in Xtra?

What do you think of this?

Is this proof that Telecom can't be trusted to play fair?

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