Rural broadband shortlist announced

Wednesday 8th December 2010

A joint proposal by Telecom and Vodafone is one of three short-listed by the Government for its rural broadband initiative (RBI).

The other two short-listed proposals, out of five received, were from FX Networks/OpenGate and from Torotoro Waea, Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce said today.

"The short-listed proposals demonstrate that they merit further evaluation based on an their plans to deliver the RBI objectives and provide open access to government-subsidised infrastructure," Mr Joyce said.

Innovative approaches were helping to lower deployment costs, extend fixed and wireless coverage, and get the fibre backbone further into rural New Zealand.

"I expect to see this collaboration strengthening as the process moves forward into the negotiation stage later this month," Mr Joyce said.

The goal of the initiative is to see 80% of rural households getting speeds of at least 5Mbps and the remainder receiving at least 1Mbps. In addition, the proposals offer to connect at least 93% of rural schools to fibre.

Binding contracts were expected be signed in early 2011, Mr Joyce said.

Last month Telecom and Vodafone said they were proposing to combine resources to build new, open access network infrastructure to provide broadband in rural areas using a range of technologies.

The proposed solution would extend Telecom's existing fibre infrastructure by 3000km taking it to key rural points, including schools and hospitals, while Vodafone would build 154 new mobile towers.

Both fibre and wireless components would be available on an equivalent basis to access seekers and wholesale customers, allowing any party to offer a retail service over the new infrastructure.

NZPA

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