Thank you for contacting the New Zealand Commerce Commission.  This email
is to confirm that we have received your correspondence.

 

If your request is for information under the Official Information Act
(OIA) we will respond to it within 20 working days.  You can check the
maximum time limit within which Commerce Commission click here to access
the Ombudsman’s OIA Response Calculator

 

If we need to clarify, or transfer your request, or extend the timeframe
for response, we will contact you shortly.

 

If your enquiry is not a request for information under the OIA, please
contact our Contact Centre, on 0800 943 600 or [1][email address]

 

 

OIA Co-ordinator

Information Systems | Organisational Performance

Commerce Commission l Te Komihana Tauhokohoko

44 The Terrace l PO Box 2351 l Wellington 6140 l New Zealand

E: [2][Commerce Commission request email]

 

 

This email may contain information that is confidential or legally
privileged. If you have received this email in error please immediately
notify the sender and delete the email, without using it in any way. The
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References

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2. mailto:[Commerce Commission request email]

Kia ora Sam

 

The Commerce Commission (the Commission) acknowledges receipt of your
request dated 6 January 2026 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA)
for following information:

 

“Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request:

1. Any complaints, inquiries, or analysis regarding whether satellite
internet providers' pricing in rural markets constitutes predatory pricing
designed to eliminate terrestrial competitors, including any assessment
under Commerce Act provisions relating to use of market power or
anti-competitive conduct.

2. Any assessment of whether current satellite internet pricing is
sustainable long-term or represents below-cost pricing designed to achieve
market dominance, particularly analysis of whether prices are likely to
rise substantially once terrestrial alternatives have been eliminated from
rural markets.

3. Any correspondence with telecommunications industry participants
raising concerns about unsustainable competitive pricing dynamics in rural
connectivity markets.

4. Any advice to Ministers or internal analysis regarding:

    * Whether elimination of terrestrial rural ISPs creates consumer
protection concerns if satellite providers subsequently exercise pricing
power

    * What regulatory mechanisms exist to constrain pricing or ensure
service quality if a provider achieves effective monopoly in rural areas

    * Whether customers will have effective and secure alternatives or
switching options if terrestrial infrastructure is abandoned and satellite
becomes the sole viable option

    * Whether infrastructure, once economically abandoned, can be feasibly
rebuilt if satellite pricing later becomes unaffordable for rural
consumers

5. Any assessment of whether government funding decisions or policy
settings have influenced competitive dynamics in ways that accelerate
market concentration or elimination of terrestrial alternatives, and
whether these impacts were considered in policy development.

6. Any analysis of whether satellite providers' standard terms (which
typically reserve unilateral right to modify pricing) combined with
elimination of alternatives creates consumer protection risks that
existing regulatory frameworks do not adequately address.

7. Any consideration of international precedents where dominant
telecommunications providers achieved market control through subsidised
pricing and subsequently exercised pricing power, and applicability to New
Zealand rural connectivity markets.”

 

We confirm the request has been logged as OIA 25.158.

 

We will be in touch with a decision on your request by no later than 13
February 2026. We note that 25 December 2025 to 15 January 2026 as well as
6 February (Waitangi Day) are excluded from the definition of working day
under the OIA.

 

If we need to clarify your request further, we will be in touch with you
shortly.

 

If consultation or notification with third parties is considered
necessary, we will advise them that the requester is a member of public in
accordance with the [1]Ombudsman's Guidance set out on page 7.

 

If you need to get in touch with us, you can reply to this email or
contact us at [2][Commerce Commission request email].

 

Ngâ mihi

Payal

 

Payal Padhya [3](she/her)
Governance Adviser
Commerce Commission | Te Komihana Tauhokohoko 

44 The Terrace | PO Box 2351 | Wellington 6140 | New Zealand

[4]comcom.govt.nz  [5]X  [6]Facebook   [7]LinkedIn

 

 

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