Wellington company FX Networks has won a tender to take over “Karen”, the fibre optic broadband network that links universities and Crown Research Institutes.

The contract is currently held by TelstraClear, which has operated Karen (the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network) since it was originally launched in 2006 on the back of a $43 million grant from the Labour government.

FX will take over the 10Gbit/s network in December.

Terms of the three-year deal have not been disclosed, but tender documents indicate it is in the region of $6 million.

Investing in an advanced national research and education network will deliver at least $4 of economic benefits for every tax dollar spent by 2015, a recent study suggests.

The study, undertaken by high-end investment consultancy Temple: Capital Investment Specialists, assessed the value of REANNZ (Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand) to the New Zealand economy.