This is scary!  But it is also an early indicator of where broadband-enabled technology will take us over the next 5 or so years.  So what if you do not have Fibre to the Premises?  Comment on this scary vision of our near future!.

The government's announcement that the Rural Broadband Initiative will be available only to national bidders is bad news for our rural communities.

First is that the national provider aspect is a clear indicator that Telecom Chorus, after separation, will win the RBI tenders and hence receive the $300M funding from the Rural Broadband initiative.  This means that our rural areas will get a fibre-to-the-node network rather than the future-proofed fibre-to-the-premises alternative.  We will get this at Chorus' deemed timings and with little regard to regional needs.

Chorus have done a grand job of rolling out fibre-to-the-node networks over the last 2 years.  It has a lot of fibre in the ground around the country.  Note that Chorus have done this because the government required it as part of the functional separation agreement (which itself came about because of competitive pressures).  We should also note that Chorus have responded rapidly with fibre installations when competition threatened its position in some areas.

Secondly, to give the RBI funding to Telecom Chorus, Chorus has to be fully (not just functionally) separated from Telecom.  This will take time to effect and whilst Telecom and the government work through the process, there will be no investment in rural broadband beyond what they are required to do under the functional separation agreement and so our rural areas will again have to wait.  Rural areas have been waiting for 6 years already and the time for NZ Inc to secure economic benefits from an advanced ICT infrastructure has passed us by.  Our rural areas will now likely suffer an economic decline because of the lack of action by successive governments.

Thirdly, the presence of real competition has resulted in companies like Opto Networks rolling out fibre-to-the-farm networks.  For a $500 install charge plus $100 per month, rural users get 100Mb/s, no data cap and an included telephone line.  I do not see anyway that Telecom/Chorus, as a monopoly provider, will choose to match that.

Thursday's announcement is about New Zealand taking a step back in time.  If Chorus had been separated from Telecom at the time of privatizing Telecom, then great.  We would not be in this broadband pickle.  But the time to do that is now past.  Telecom has clearly demonstrated that it requires a serious threat of competition to make it perform.

John Allen

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This is an example of the Government's goal of future proofing the public health service. Read the Minister's speech and comment on the issue here.

Federated Farmers says fast, reliable broadband access is necessary if agri-business is to reach its productive potential.  Read this NZ Herald article and comment on the content here

Read this NZ Herald article for an insight as to how the logistical issues around the ambitious Urban and Rural Broadband Initiatives will be resolved.