MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) March 18, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had maintained its 'A' long-term and 'A-1' short-term ratings on Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd. (TCNZ) on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on Aug. 4, 2010. "In our view, significant regulatory-driven uncertainties remain surrounding TCNZ's future earnings and asset composition," Standard&Poor's credit analyst Paul Draffin said. "If TCNZ agrees to demerge its fixed-line access network and part of its wholesale division into a new standalone company, it will likely result in a lowering of the long-term rating by one or two notches." The final rating outcome will however depend on a number of key issues, including: The composition of
