Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH), the state-owned agency responsible for the Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) project, said it has selected the Central Fibre Consortium for priority talks on the project.
The consortium includes Unison Networks, Counties Power,…
Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH), the state-owned agency responsible for the Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) project, said it has selected the Central Fibre Consortium for priority talks on the project.
The consortium includes Unison Networks, Counties Power, Eastland Group, Horizon Energy Distribution, and Centralines, which cover 10 UFB candidate areas.
In December last year, CFH announced that incumbent Telecom New Zealand had also been selected as preferred bidder to roll out UFB services in 25 regions, including Auckland and Wellington.
But the company has been asked to separate its infrastructure operations from its retail business in order to get a seat on the broadband initiative. This is because retailers are allowed to have only a minority share in the network.
Overall, six parties have been selected for prioritised negotiations. Besides Central Fibre and Telecom NZ, the deal talks will include Vector, Enable Networks, Flute Joint Venture and Alpine Energy.
CFH Chairman Simon Allen said in a statement: “It is great to have Telecom and the Central Fibre Consortium contesting the opportunity to become the Crown’s partner for UFB in regional cities such as Napier and Palmerston North as well as smaller centres like Whakatane and Masterton.”
The UFB initiative aims to supply high speed internet through fibre to 75% of New Zealand homes over 10 years.
