UPDATED: The joint Telecom/Vodafone bid for the Rural Broadband Initiative announced today is no surprise, according to the man leading a rival bid.

Hours after the joint bid by the telcos was announced, the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group announced its own bid for the $300 million project.

NZRFG chief executive Vaughan Baker told the NBR he wasn't surprised by the joint bid, saying it has been known in the industry for some time that they would team up. 

Members of the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group (NZRFG), an alliance of power line companies and fibre operators, hope to deliver the government’s rural broadband initiative through a mix of fixed fibre, mobile and wireless technologies.

Yesterday was the closing date for submitting a formal expression of interest in the government's four-year, $300 million plan to bring faster broadband to 97% of people who live in rural areas.

The Regional Fibre Group (RFG) has appointed a fulltime chief executive to marshall its members' various Crown fibre bids.

He is Vaughan Baker (pictured; not to be mistaken for broadcaster John Campbell) who has worked on a number of large scale telecommunications projects for organisations including Fonterra and IAG.

US networking giant Cisco has thrown its weight behind the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group, an alliance of power, line and fibre companies assembled at Vector’s initiative to counter criticism that a regional fibre model could become technologically fragmented.