Final decision made on TDL contributions

New Zealand’s Commerce Commission has published its final decision on the contributions to the country’s NZD50 million (USD39 million) Telecommunications Development Levy (TDL) for 2013/14. There are only minor changes to the contribution levels proposed in the Commission’s draft determination released last month; Spark (formerly Telecom New Zealand) will be liable to pay 38.17% of the total (NZD19.1 million), while Vodafone will contribute 27.82% (NZD13.9 million), Chorus 22.93% (NZD11.5 million), 2degrees 4.95% (NZD2.5 million) and CallPlus 1.46% (NZD730,403). The remainder is split among 15 smaller players, with none paying above NZD500,000, or 1% of the total TDL. The government uses the fund to pay for telecoms infrastructure, including the relay service for the deaf and hearing-impaired, broadband for rural areas, and improvements to 111 emergency services.