MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor's) Oct. 3, 2006--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'A' long-term credit rating to Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd.'s (TCNZ) C$275 million medium-term-note issue, which has an October 2013 maturity and is scheduled to be issued on Oct. 11, 2006. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'A/Stable/A-1' corporate credit ratings on TCNZ, reflecting the company's strong business profile and conservative financial risk appetite, notwithstanding the challenging operating environment. "TCNZ's strong market positions and current profitability should provide it with sufficient scale and scope to maintain and develop its capabilities to meet the changing environment, particularly in its domestic markets," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Colin Atkin said. "At the same time,
