The Commerce Commission has been urged not to sign off on the country’s dominant mobile phone operators buying the remaining 700 megahertz radio spectrum for fear of undermining burgeoning competition in the market. A Covec report, commissioned by new entrant Two Degrees Mobile, claims competition among mobile carriers would be “substantially enhanced” if the antitrust regulator declines clearance for Vodafone …

The New Zealand dollar rose above 90 Australian cents for the first time in five years as traders bet the Reserve Bank of Australia will attempt to talk its currency down at its policy review this afternoon. The kiwi touched a high of 90.03 Australian cents early this morning, a level not reached since October 2008. The local currency was …

Wall Street began the week flat as the start to the holiday sales season was mixed, leaving investors wary of placing too many fresh bets ahead of the November payrolls report on Friday. On a positive note, US manufacturing surprisingly picked up speed last month. The Institute for Supply Management’s index climbed to 57.3 in November, the highest since April …

Prime Minister John Key appears to be holding the door open to renegotiating the price at which Chorus undertakes its part of the national roll-out of fibre-optic cable under the government’s ultra-fast broadband project. Speaking after Cabinet, Key told journalists the government had “a number of options” for dealing with the billion dollar hole blown in Chorus’s earnings between now …

New Zealand shares fell as Chorus, fighting price controls, sank to a record low and other utilities at risk of regulation, including Meridian Energy, declined. The NZX 50 Index declined 2.621 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4792.329. Within the index, 21 stocks fell, 15 gained and 14 were unchanged. Turnover was $108 million. Chorus dropped 5.6 percent to $1.44, the …

Chorus has filed papers in the High Court challenging the way Commerce Commission set prices on its regulated copper lines, questioning whether the antitrust regulator interpreted the law correctly. The Wellington-based telecommunications network operator spun out of Telecom Corp two years ago is seeking a judicial determination on whether the commission was right to rely on comparisons with just two …

The New Zealand dollar gain as local figures showed the country’s terms of trade at a 40-year high in September and after better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data provided some optimism for the trans-Tasman nations selling into the world’s most populous country. The kiwi rose to 81.94 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 81.31 cents at 8am and 81.25 cents on …

The New Zealand dollar may rise this week as improving economic data strengthens the case for interest rate rises next year. The kiwi may trade between 79.80 US cents and 83.50 cents this week, according to nine currency strategists and traders surveyed by BusinessDesk. Seven expect the currency to advance while two say it may decline. The local currency recently …

Fonterra Cooperative Group chief executive Theo Spierings says months of talks with Danone over losses from the whey protein concentrate recall have failed to reach a commercial solution, suggesting the issue may end up in the courts. Danone put the cost of the Fonterra WPC 80 recall at 350 million euros when it announced its third-quarter results last month. Spierings …

Snakk Media, ranked sixth in the Deloitte Fast 50 index of the fastest-growing businesses, posted first-half sales growth of 148 percent, helped by the contribution from its smart screen start up. Sales rose to $3 million in the six months ended Sept. 30, from $1.22 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Its net loss widened …