Crown fibre kingpin takes Telecom lobbying job

Ralph Chivers – arguably the single most knowledgeable person about the government’s $1.5 billion plan – has taken a senior job at Telecom.

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As Crown Fibre Holdings’ programme manager, Mr Chivers has been the most senior appointment, and the driving force behind negotiations so far with potential private sector matching investors. Recently, he has also been on a hiring spree.

Mr Chivers advised the MED yesterday that today would be his last with the ministry, and made his decision public this morning through business networking site LinkedIn.

Today also marks the end of Mr Chivers' six-month contract.

His new role is head of government and industry relations for Telecom.

“I won't be starting until February 1 – that is, until after Ultrafast Broadband bids are in – and I won’t be working on UFB until after March,” Mr Chivers told NBR, pre-empting the obvious question about conflict of interest.

Telecom’s previous head of government relations, Dean Schmidt, left for a corporate affairs position with NZ Post.

Mr Chivers career has seen him make a number of hops between the public and private sectors.

A stints as a regulatory affairs manager for Telecom, specialising in wireless, and a senior consultant at Voco were followed by a tour of duty at the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), where Mr Chivers served as a project manager -– essentially overseeing the operational separation of Telecom.

Mr Chivers then returned to the private sector as chief executive of the Telecommunications Carriers Forum before taking his job overseeing Crown Fibre Holdings midway through this year.

"I'm well satisfied with what we've achieved and I'm also very confident of leaving the work in a good state and the CFH in very capable hands," he said.

One of Mr Chivers' last acts, in concert with his colourful board, was to appointGreg Mitchell CFH's inaugural chief executive.