Telecommunications (Property Access) Regulations 2017

2017/82

Coat of Arms of New Zealand

Telecommunications (Property Access) Regulations 2017

Hon Sir William Young, Administrator of the Government

Order in Council

At Wellington this 8th day of May 2017

Present:
His Excellency the Administrator of the Government in Council

These regulations are made under section 155ZO of the Telecommunications Act 2001—

(a)

on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council; and

(b)

on the recommendation of the Minister for Communications made in accordance with that section.

Regulations

1 Title

These regulations are the Telecommunications (Property Access) Regulations 2017.

2 Commencement

These regulations come into force on 9 June 2017.

3 Interpretation

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—

address for service, in relation to a body corporate, means the address for service determined in accordance with section 192 of the Companies Act 1993 or, as the case requires, the Unit Titles Regulations 2011

aerial utility corridor means an aerial channel through which 1 or more utility cables connect to a property

alternative address, in relation to a person, means a postal address of the person—

(a)

that can be ascertained by an FTTP service provider or network operator carrying out a reasonable search of—

(i)

a publicly available database; or

(ii)

information held by the FTTP service provider or network operator; and

(b)

that the FTTP service provider or network operator reasonably considers to be a postal address where a preliminary notice (and, as the case requires, a high-level design plan) is likely to be received by the person

ancillary equipment means equipment ancillary to the fibre optic media that it is reasonably necessary to install as part of the installation

official database means—

(a)

the rating information database as defined in section 5 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002; or

(b)

the computer register as defined in section 4 of the Land Transfer (Computer Registers and Electronic Lodgement) Amendment Act 2002

personal delivery means handing the preliminary notice (and, as the case requires, the high-level design plan) to the person who it is to be given to or, if that person does not accept it, putting it down in the person’s presence and pointing out that it is being left for that person’s attention

property has the same meaning as in section 155D(1) of the Act

soft surface includes grass, clay, bark, gravel, pebbles, and sand

specified address, in relation to a person, means—

(a)

the postal address of the person contained in an official database; or

(b)

any other postal address provided by the person for the purpose of receiving information required to be given under the Act or these regulations

specified email address, in relation to a person, means—

(a)

the email address of the person contained in an official database; or

(b)

any other email address provided by the person for the purpose of receiving information required to be given under the Act or these regulations

specified structure means a structure, whether or not covered in plaster, that is made of 1 or more of the following materials:

(a)

asphalt:

(b)

concrete (including concrete block):

(c)

wood:

(d)

iron:

(e)

brick:

(f)

fibreboard:

(g)

steel:

(h)

aluminium.

(2)

In these regulations, unless otherwise stated or the context otherwise requires, a reference to an installation of fibre optic media includes a reference to the installation of a prescribed other technology.

4 Transitional, savings, and related provisions

The transitional, savings, and related provisions (if any) set out in Schedule 1 have effect according to their terms.

5 Giving preliminary notice and high-level design plan (for properties other than body corporate administered properties)

A preliminary notice (and, as the case requires, a high-level design plan) required to be given to a person under section 155K or 155L of the Act must be given—

(a)

by personal delivery to the person; or

(b)

by posting it to the specified address of the person; or

(c)

by sending it by email to the specified email address of the person; or

(d)

if it is not reasonably practicable to use any of the methods in paragraphs (a) to (c),—

(i)

by delivering it to the property where the installation is to take place, and placing it in the mailbox of the property (if applicable) or attaching it to the front of the property in a prominent position; and

(ii)

if the person has an alternative address, by posting it to the alternative address of the person.

6 Giving preliminary notice and high-level design plan (for body corporate administered properties)

A preliminary notice and high-level design plan required to be given to a body corporate under section 155R of the Act must be given—

(a)

by posting it to the address for service of the body corporate marked for the attention of the chairperson; or

(b)

if the body corporate has provided an email address for the purpose of receiving the preliminary notice and high-level design plan, by sending it to that email address.

7 When preliminary notice and high-level design plan treated as given

(1)

A preliminary notice or high-level design plan personally delivered in accordance with regulation 5(a) is treated, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as having been given on the date on which it was delivered.

(2)

A preliminary notice or high-level design plan posted in accordance with regulation 5(b) or (d)(ii) or 6(a) is treated, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as having been given on the fourth working day after the date on which it was posted, and in proving that it was given, it is sufficient to prove that it was properly addressed and posted.

(3)

A preliminary notice or high-level design plan sent by email in accordance with regulation 5(c) or 6(b) is treated, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as having been given,—

(a)

in the case of an email sent before 12 pm on a working day, on the date on which it was sent; and

(b)

in the case of an email sent at or after 12 pm on a working day, or sent on a day that is not a working day, on the next working day after the date on which it was sent.

(4)

In proving that a preliminary notice or high-level design plan sent by email was given, it is sufficient to prove that the email containing the notice or plan was—

(a)

properly addressed to the email address in question; and

(b)

properly sent to that email address.

(5)

A preliminary notice or high-level design plan delivered in accordance with regulation 5(d)(i) is treated, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as having been given on the second working day after the date on which it was delivered, and in proving that it was given, it is sufficient to prove that it was properly addressed, delivered, and either placed or attached as required by regulation 5(d)(i).

8 Content of preliminary notice

(1)

For the purposes of sections 155K(2)(e) and 155M(1)(f) of the Act, the prescribed requirements are that the preliminary notice must—

(a)

state whether the installation is a category 1 or a category 2 installation; and

(b)

include the name of the dispute resolution provider, details of where parties can seek further information about the dispute resolution scheme, and a description of the kinds of dispute that the dispute resolution scheme deals with; and

(c)

be clearly labelled with a statement drawing attention to the statutory time limit started by the notice; and

(d)

in the case of a body corporate administered property, include a statement that the body corporate may request an extension of the 15-working-day time limit.

(2)

In this regulation, clearly labelled means,—

(a)

if the notice is delivered or posted in an envelope, that the statement is included in a prominent position on the notice and on the envelope; and

(b)

if the notice is delivered or posted without an envelope, that the statement is included in a prominent position on the notice; and

(c)

if the notice is sent by email, that the statement is included in the subject line of the email.

9 Restrictions on use of access areas during installations

For the purposes of section 155ZA of the Act, the prescribed period of time that an FTTP service provider or a network operator using an access area to carry out a category 1 or category 2 installation may restrict or block other persons from using the access area is 4 hours.

10 Methods of category 1 installation

(1)

The methods of installation listed in column 2 of Schedule 2 are prescribed as category 1 installations for the purposes of subpart 3 of Part 4 of the Act.

(2)

Those methods of installation are subject to any requirements listed in column 4 of Schedule 2 in the corresponding row or rows.

11 Methods of category 2 installation

(1)

The methods of installation listed in column 2 of Schedule 3 are prescribed as category 2 installations for the purposes of subpart 3 of Part 4 of the Act.

(2)

Those methods of installation are subject to any requirements listed in column 4 of Schedule 3 in the corresponding row or rows.

Schedule 1 Transitional, savings, and related provisions

r 4

Part 1 Provisions relating to these regulations as made

There are no transitional, savings, or related provisions relating to these regulations as made.

Schedule 2 Methods of category 1 installation

r 10

Column 1
Method number		Column 2
Method of installation		Column 3
Requirement number		Column 4
Requirements
1.1An installation that disturbs only soft surfaces1.1.1

The fibre optic media must be installed at least 200 millimetres below any soft surface except—

(a)

at the point or points where the fibre optic media exits the soft surface; or

(b)

at any point where there is a hard surface, such as a paving stone, above the fibre optic media; or

(c)

at any point where there is a hard surface alongside the fibre optic media, in which case the fibre optic media must be installed at least 100 millimetres below any soft surface.

1.1.2

The installation must not materially damage any tree or shrub.

1.2An installation below paving stones1.2.1

The installation must not include a paving stone being cut through.

1.2.2

The installation must not materially damage any tree or shrub.

1.3An aerial installation1.3.1

The installation must use an existing aerial utility corridor.

1.3.2

The installation must not include any new support structures. However, the installation may include fibre optic media and ancillary equipment being attached to existing support structures.

1.4An installation that uses only existing conduits or ducts1.4.1

The existing conduits or ducts must—

(a)

be suitable for carrying the fibre optic media; and

(b)

not need to be dug up or exposed in order to carry the fibre optic media.

1.4.2

If the existing conduits or ducts need to be unblocked in order to carry the fibre optic media, the unblocking must not disturb the surface of the conduit or duct.

1.5An installation that attaches fibre optic media and ancillary equipment to the surface of a specified structure1.5.1

The specified structure must be structurally sound and appropriate for attaching the fibre optic media and ancillary equipment to it.

1.5.2

The fibre optic media and ancillary equipment must be attached to the specified structure in a way that, as far as is reasonably practicable, minimises the visual prominence of the attached fibre optic media and ancillary equipment.

1.5.3

The installation must not damage the specified structure (apart from holes in or through the structure caused by screwing, mounting, or otherwise attaching the fibre optic media and ancillary equipment).

Schedule 3 Methods of category 2 installation

r 11

Column 1
Method number		Column 2
Method of installation		Column 3
Requirement number		Column 4
Requirements
2.1An installation that attaches fibre optic media and ancillary equipment to the surface of a structure and that does not meet the requirements of method number 1.52.1.1

The structure must be structurally sound and appropriate for attaching the fibre optic media and ancillary equipment to it.

2.2An installation that uses a micro trench cut into a hard surface2.2.1

The fibre optic media must be installed in a single micro trench running the whole or part of the length of the property. However, additional lateral micro trenches may be made at any angle to the single trench for the purpose of connecting the fibre optic media to more than 1 location.

2.2.2

The width of any micro trench must not exceed 15 millimetres.

2.3An installation that impacts a hard surface 2.3.1

The purpose of impacting the hard surface must be 1 or more of the following:

(a)

directional drilling or thrusting where equipment enters or exits the hard surface:

(b)

accessing an existing conduit or duct that is buried below the hard surface:

(c)

open trenching or digging through the hard surface.

2.3.2

The area of the hard surface impacted by the installation (the reinstatement area) must not exceed 4 square metres for each dwelling that the fibre optic media passes on the property. However,—

(a)

the length of the reinstatement area must not exceed 3 metres for each dwelling that the fibre optic media passes on the property; and

(b)

if the property has a shared driveway, the width of the reinstatement area must not exceed 30% of the width of that driveway.

2.3.3

The installation must not use multiple reinstatement areas next to each other to increase the allowable size for a reinstatement area.

2.4An installation of ancillary equipment2.4.1

Only 1 piece of ancillary equipment may be installed for each dwelling that the fibre optic media passes on the property.

2.4.2

The ancillary equipment must not unreasonably encroach on pedestrian or vehicle access ways.

2.4.3

The height of each piece of ancillary equipment must not exceed 1 150 millimetres.

2.5An installation that attaches fibre optic media and ancillary equipment to a building2.5.1

The attached fibre optic media and ancillary equipment must not interfere with any resident’s day-to-day use of the property (including by reducing available parking space, unreasonably encroaching on pedestrian or vehicle access ways or hallways, or inhibiting the opening, closing, or holding open of doors and windows).

2.5.2

Each item of ancillary equipment installed must not exceed 1 000 millimetres in height, 700 millimetres in width, and 500 millimetres in depth.

2.6An installation of fibre optic media and ancillary equipment within concealed areas of a building2.6.1

The fibre optic media and ancillary equipment must be installed in a concealed area (including risers, false ceilings, and communication rooms). However, if the building has any internal common areas, fibre optic media with plastic capping can also be installed by being attached to the ceiling or wall of an internal common area.

2.6.2

The installed fibre optic media and ancillary equipment must not interfere with any other equipment sharing the same space.

2.6.3

If the building has any internal common areas, the installation may include installing access panels in an internal common area to access concealed equipment.

2.7An installation of fibre optic media and ancillary equipment that builds a communal network (or a part of a communal network) within a common area of a property2.7.1

The communal network (or the part of the communal network) must be installed from 1 of the following:

(a)

a different common area of the property:

(b)

a council-owned property:

(c)

a public road reserve area.

2.7.2

The installation may include exterior and interior walls, and floors, of a building on the property being penetrated.

Michael Webster,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

Explanatory note

This note is not part of the regulations, but is intended to indicate their general effect.

These regulations, which come into force on 9 June 2017, prescribe various property access matters relating to subpart 3 of Part 4 of the Telecommunications Act 2001 as follows:

  • regulations 5 and 6 set out how preliminary notices and high-level design plans must be given:

  • regulation 7 sets out when preliminary notices and high-level design plans are treated as given:

  • regulation 8 sets out requirements for the content of preliminary notices:

  • regulation 9 sets out the period of time that an FTTP service provider or a network operator using an access area to carry out a category 1 or category 2 installation may restrict or block other persons from using the area:

  • regulation 10 and Schedule 2 prescribe the methods of category 1 installation and the requirements that apply to those methods:

  • regulation 11 and Schedule 3 prescribe the methods of category 2 installation and the requirements that apply to those methods.

Regulatory impact statement

The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment produced regulatory impact statements on 18 August 2015 and 3 March 2016 to help inform the decisions taken by the Government relating to the contents of the Telecommunications (Property Access and Other Matters) Amendment Bill and this instrument.

A copy of these regulatory impact statements can be found at—

Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.

Date of notification in Gazette: 11 May 2017.

These regulations are administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.