Communications Minister Steven Joyce is pouring cold water on Maori Council claims for fourth generation telecommunications spectrum.The Maori Council said it was entitled to 100 percent of the new, fourth generation spectrum, Radio New Zealand reported
Communications Minister Steven Joyce is pouring cold water on Maori Council claims for fourth generation telecommunications spectrum.
The Maori Council said it was entitled to 100 percent of the new, fourth generation spectrum, Radio New Zealand reported today.
The council said the Waitangi Tribunal has ruled spectrum was a taonga, or treasure, making it Maori property under Article Two of the Treaty of Waitangi.
But Mr Joyce said successive governments had not accepted that spectrum was a taonga.
"So it would be a very significant shift for the current Government to move from that." he said.
"Because spectrum was not in use at the time that the treaty was signed and was not known at the time that the treaty was signed, it's difficult to argue it was taonga."
4G spectrum would help delivery of ultra fast broadband and multi media services. It would allow synergy between the internet and high definition television, among other uses.
