Draft decision on contributions to $50 million telecommunications development levy

The Commerce Commission today released its draft determination on how much 16 telecommunications providers will each pay towards the Government’s $50 million Telecommunications Development Levy (TDL) for 2018/19.

The Government uses the annual levy to pay for telecommunications infrastructure and services which are not commercially viable, including the relay service for the deaf and hearing-impaired, broadband for rural areas, and improvements to the 111 emergency service.

The levy, about 1% of telecommunications services revenue, is paid by providers earning more than $10 million per year for providing telecommunications services, including internet, mobile, and data services.

Today’s draft determination provides that Spark, Vodafone, Chorus, and 2degrees will collectively pay more than 90% of the $50 million levy.

Growing uptake of fibre services means that the contributions to the TDL by Enable, Northpower and Ultrafast Fibre have significantly increased.

A copy of the draft determination can be found here.

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