The cities of Hamilton, Tauranga, Whangarei, New Plymouth and Wanganui will be among the first to benefit from the government's rollout of ultra-fast broadband (UFB), Minister for Communications and Information Technology Steven Joyce said in a statement
The cities of Hamilton, Tauranga, Whangarei, New Plymouth and Wanganui will be among the first to benefit from the government’s rollout of ultra-fast broadband (UFB), Minister for Communications and Information Technology Steven Joyce said in a statement this morning.
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Financial terms have not been disclosed, although deeds of understanding - at first glance, emphasising open access provisions (that is, equal access by for all retailers, such as ISPs, to the Crown fibre wholesale network) - have been posted to Crown Fibre Holdings' website.
Crown Fibre Holdings has concluded negotiations with two partner companies, following shareholding ministers’ approval of the deals over the weekend.
The partners are:
The new companies will roll out fibre in Whangarei, Hamilton, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Hawera and Tokoroa.
No mention is made of Timaru contenter Alpine Energy - the least experienced of the three parties (at least in fibre terms) chosen for "priority negotiations" with Crown Fibre Holdings.
A fact sheet on the first deals includes "template pricing". The following wholesale charges are anticipated, with no one-off connection fee. All exclude GST:
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Today's announcement is a blow for Telecom, which has repeatedly stated that its Crown fibre bid is a national one, covering all 30 regions. Chief executive Paul Reynolds must now decide whether to compromise – or to remain outside the ultrafast broadband "magic circle" and compete (he has previously told analysts that a frozen-out Telecom could "cherry pick" the most commercial fibre business, making it harder for ultrafast broadband contract winners to become profitable – as they must be to return capital to Crown Fibre Holdings).
Northpower will commence its rollout in Whangarei before Christmas with Ultra Fast Fibre expected to begin laying fibre early in 2011. Both companies will have completed their rollouts by 2015.
$200 million value
These joint ventures represent nearly 16% of UFB premises and a combined value of more than $200 million. The UFB Initiative will see 75% coverage of ultra-fast broadband across New Zealand by 2019.
Mr Joyce says the availability of ultra-fast broadband is a key part of the government’s economic growth agenda.
“This is very good progress in the roll out of UFB, which will see new fibre services available in Whangarei by the end of this year and in the areas covered by Ultra Fast Fibre Limited commencing early in 2011."
Wholesale household prices will start at $40 or less per month for an entry level product and $60 per month for the 100 Megabit product. There are no connection charges for households.
CFH will shortly announce a list of parties with whom it will next elect to negotiate with in the remaining 25 UFB regions.
One of the first lobby groups to respond, InternetNZ, welcomed the first deals' no-connection fee pledge.
“[But] other things that influence uptake – non-price issues like data caps [absent from the above table] and maintaining a level playing field for online content providers – will also be a focus for us," chief executive Vikram Kumar said in a statement.
