Critics miss the point, says researcher
victoria-university-of-wellington
Wed Sep 27 2006 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Critics miss the point, says researcher
Wednesday, 27 September 2006, 9:54 am
Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington
26 September 2006
Critics miss the point, says researcher
A Victoria University researcher whose submission on the Telecommunications Amendment Bill has been criticised by lobbyists says her critics have missed the point.
Bronwyn Howell, Research Fellow in the Institute for the Study of Competition & Regulation at Victoria, says her submission was clearly intended as a critique of the many weaknesses in the Ministry of Economic Development analysis.
“As such, it was never meant to be a detailed academic analysis of the relationship between broadband penetration and unbundling. So to criticise my work for not being such an analysis completely misses the point. Nowhere do my critics produce evidence from New Zealand data that supports the Ministry’s claims that competition issues resolvable by local loop unbundling are the most significant factor in New Zealand's relative performance. In this, they appear to agree with me.”
Ms Howell says her citations from the literature were designed to convey a sense of the debate around issues that are assumed by Ministry to be clear-cut.
“They were not designed to provide a survey of the literature itself. To criticise my work for not being of that kind again misses the point. That such confusion exists is perhaps not surprising: one critic admits he has not even read the original Ministry work, and thus takes me to task for not bringing up a variety of factors that are not in dispute in the New Zealand context.”
Ms Howell says the critics simply ignore most of the points made in her submission, while misinterpreting those they chose to address.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
“In particular, they haven’t provided any support for the claims of New Zealand policy-makers that unbundling has not impeded investment in markets where the policy is in place, despite the academic literature that suggests such outcomes are likely to occur.
“Professor Glenn Boyle, the Institute’s Executive Director, has invited John Small and myself to participate in a public debate of these and related issues. I look forward to the opportunity.”
ENDS
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
Find more from Victoria University of Wellington on InfoPages.