Having laid out the evidence for removing all regulation from Chorus’ copper network, ComCom awaits the Minister’s support for its recommendation
Consumers in rural areas continue migrate from the copper network at pace
On 21 August 2025, New Zealand’s Commerce Commission (ComCom) completed its investigation into the regulation of copper services, as mandated by the Telecommunications Act 2001. In doing so, the regulator has made its final recommendation to the Minister for Media and Communications to deregulate Chorus’ copper network in areas outside the national fibre footprint. Under the act, the regulator was required to consider, by the end of the year, whether copper access regulation is still needed to promote competition in the country’s telecoms sector. However, the final decision as to whether to proceed in removing any existing regulation would sit with the Minister. According to Tristan Gilbertson (Telecommunications Commissioner, ComCom), technology has transformed rural connectivity over the past two decades. While acknowledging that deregulation would be a significant change, he added that consumers continue to move off copper in large numbers, and more consumers have left the network in recent years than now remain on it.
ComCom believes there is good reason fully deregulate copper access given the widespread availability of alternative technologies
On 12 March 2025, ComCom launched a call for comments on its draft recommendation to remove access regulation from Chorus’ rural copper network. With regulation already removed in urban areas where more advanced services – such as fibre, satellite and fixed wireless access (FWA) – are widely available, ComCom stated that there is a case for removing it in rural areas too. The regulator considered that there is a sufficient competitive constraint from alternative technologies to warrant deregulation, which would enable Chorus to start withdrawing some copper services that are still used by consumers, as it has already begun doing in urban areas. The draft recommendation was published shortly before a separate Open Letter, through which ComCom initiated a programme of work looking at the evolution of New Zealand’s regulatory regime for fibre. While this does not necessarily mean that any rules will be lifted, the regulator is keen to ensure the framework keeps pace with market developments to provide the certainty that will sustain ongoing network investments.
The regulator wants commitments from Chorus that it will protect rural consumers during the switch-off process
In its final recommendation on copper, ComCom stated that the technology was first regulated 20 years ago when it was a natural monopoly and the only way of providing widespread phone and internet services. However, less than a third (70,000) of rural consumers now rely on it, with that figure declining as consumers move to higher quality alternatives. The regulator considers that there is sufficient competition in the market to warrant removing copper access regulation. If agreed by the Minister, deregulation would enable Chorus to start the process of withdrawing copper infrastructure in rural areas – a process Chorus wants to complete by 2030. That said, ComCom believes it is important to have a managed withdrawal to protect rural consumers during the migration process – potentially mirroring the Copper Withdrawal Code that has worked well in urban areas. Gilbertson has therefore encouraged Chorus to make clear commitments to support consumers through the switch to more reliable, effective and affordable telecoms services.
