Incumbent Telecom New Zealand has been selected as preferred bidder to roll out Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) services in 25 regions, including Auckland and Wellington.
The eight remaining regions have already been assigned to competitors or have another…
Incumbent Telecom New Zealand has been selected as preferred bidder to roll out Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) services in 25 regions, including Auckland and Wellington.
The eight remaining regions have already been assigned to competitors or have another prioritised bidder. The UFB initiative aims to supply high speed internet through fibre to 75% of New Zealand homes over ten years.
“Over the past few months we have worked tirelessly to refine our proposal in order to meet the needs of our shareholders at the same time as achieving the objectives of the government, and we will continue to do so as the process progresses,” said Paul Reynolds, Telecom NZ CEO, in a statement.
In early September, it was revealed that the incumbent was not among the list of companies selected for priority talks around the government’s $NZ1.5bn (about US$1bn) UFB project, overseen by State-owned Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH).
Telecom was nonetheless still on the list of 14 companies that remain important contenders for future negotiations. But the company has been asked to separate its infrastructure operations from its retail business to get a seat on the broadband initiative, because retailers are allowed to have only a minority share in the network.
“We remain firmly of the belief that a structurally separate Chorus as the cornerstone of a national framework for fibre is the most efficient and effective way to deliver the government’s fibre vision and that is reflected in our proposal,” explained Reynolds.
“We reiterate our openness to partnership with other public and private sector owners of fibre assets where partnership can improve the overall economics and deliver fibre further and faster for New Zealand,” he added.
Binding agreements are reportedly expected in the first quarter of 2011.
In a separate report, the New Zealand government shortlisted, early December, three of the five Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) proposals submitted in mid-November.
The proposals selected are Torotoro Waea, FX Networks/OpenGate and Telecom New Zealand/Vodafone New Zealand.
The RBI aims to provide fibre to 97% of rural schools and a minimum 5Mbps broadband service to 80% of rural households within six years.
