New Zealand’s Commerce Commission has estimated the cost of the country’s Telecommunications Service Obligation (TSO) to be NZD62.9 million (USD33.8 million) for the year to June 2007, up from NZD58.2 million the previous year. The TSO covers the cost of providing telecoms services to more than 51,000 commercially non-viable customers (CNVCs). The country’s largest telcos each pay a proportion of the total cost of the fund each year, with dominant telco Telecom New Zealand contributing more than two-thirds of the total and Vodafone and TelstraClear paying the bulk of the remainder.