To improve NZ's standard of living: scrap its NBN

Stuart Corner
Monday, 30 November 2009 14:16

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

A New Zealand Government task force set up to recommend ways to close the income gap between NZ and Australia has launched a stinging attack on the Government's plans to fund a widespread fibre to the home network.

The 2025 Task Force was set up recommend ways in which the growing per capita income gap between New Zealanders and Australians could be turned around and closed by 2025. Its report, popularly known as The Brash Report, was released today, 30 November.

It says "We would urge that, if at all possible, the initiative [to roll out fibre to 75 percent of homes in 10 years] should be put on hold now, and subjected to a comprehensive independent scrutiny and evaluation of the economics of the proposal.

"This should include rigorous identification of factors and risks that mean private investors will not take up the opportunity without government involvement. Regulatory uncertainty may be one possibility – an issue which might be better addressed at source – but we think the public has a right to see a much more compelling case articulated and tested."

The report brought swift condemnation from The New Zealand Telecommunications Users Association (TUANZ). CEO, Ernie Newman, said: "Ultra fast broadband requires...a leap of faith. Its impact cannot be predicted by any kind of cost benefit analysis. Yet the potential is very obvious to people with vision who see the enormous benefits that ICT and the Internet have brought over the past years, and who can extrapolate this into the future with the addition of far higher speeds.

"The Task Force also seems to have missed most of the point of the connectivity when it refers to opportunities in 'business and leisure'. Many of the major benefits of ultra fast broadband will arise in the fields of health care, education, and environmental management. Business and leisure are but a part of the big picture."

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