The Commerce Commission's final telecommunication service obligation (TSO) has finally announced that telecom firms such as Vodafone, TelstraClear and other telcos would share an extra $10.7 million of costs. The amount would be paid toward providing home line and dial-up internet service access to around 58,000 non-commercially-viable rural customers.

All telecom companies are ready to pay $61.36 million, out of which 70 per cent of the cost would be borne by Telecom, 24 by Vodafone, 5 per cent by TelstraClear and 1 per cent by other players such as WorldxChange Communications, Woosh Wireless and ihug, having little penetration in the field.

Change in the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) - or cost of borrowing money - has significantly reduced the final amount. The commission used a WACC of 6.4% in the original draft, which was later revised to 6.3 per cent for making final calculations.

The government had been working out TSO rates ever since it has been proposing to roll out rural broadband services. Communications Minister Steven Joyce still sticks to his proposal for termination of the TSO.