Kia ora Sam Brown,
 
On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 6/01/2026 requesting, under the Official
Information Act 1982, the following:
 
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request:

1. Any analysis of how government funding decisions, policy settings, or
regulatory frameworks have influenced competitive dynamics in rural
telecommunications markets, including whether these impacts were assessed
during policy development.

2. Any advice to Ministers regarding unintended consequences of policy
settings that may accelerate market concentration or elimination of
terrestrial connectivity providers from rural areas.

3. Any assessment of risks associated with rural telecommunications
transitioning from multiple competing providers using diverse technologies
to effective single-provider dominance, including:

* Consumer protection implications if the dominant provider later raises
prices significantly
   * Infrastructure resilience concerns if alternative networks are
economically abandoned
   * Whether market structure changes align with government objectives for
competition, consumer choice, and essential service resilience

4. Any analysis of whether government has considered 'what happens next'
scenarios if current market trajectory results in:
   * Elimination of terrestrial alternatives from rural markets
   * Effective monopoly by foreign-controlled satellite provider/s
   * Subsequent price increases once competitive constraint is removed
   * Consumer harm that cannot be remedied by market re-entry due to
infrastructure barriers

5. Any advice on whether policy settings should include mechanisms to
maintain infrastructure diversity, prevent irreversible market
concentration, or protect against elimination of competition in essential
services markets.

6. Any assessment of whether decisions about rural connectivity funding
have adequately considered long-term market structure implications versus
short-term problem-solving convenience.

Context: Government policy and funding decisions influence market
structure. I am seeking to understand whether long-term implications of
potential market concentration have been assessed, or whether policy is
inadvertently creating conditions for monopoly formation without adequate
consideration of subsequent consumer protection and resilience concerns.
 
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and no
later than 13/02/2026, being 20 working days after the day your request
was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe. Please note that the days
from 25 December 2025 to 15 January 2026 (inclusive) are defined as
non-working days in the Act and are not counted in the calculation for the
response due date. This will affect the time period for responding to your
request. If you have any enquiries regarding your request feel free to
contact us via email to [1][MBIE request email].
 
Nāku noa, nā
Ministerial Services
Strategy and Assurance
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
15 Stout Street, Wellington 6011 |  P O Box 1473 Wellington 6140

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[MBIE request email]