New Zealand National Party promises fibre to the home

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 22 April 2008 09:28

Opinion and Analysis

The countries are different and so are the political parties but the pre-election announcement by New Zealand's National Party that it would invest $NZ1.5 billion over the next six years to rollout fibre to the majority of New Zealand homes bears many similarities to the Australian Labor Party's pre-election pledge of March 2007: and just look at the mess the ALP has now got itself into!

National Party leader John Key set out his party's policy in a lengthy speech to his party's conference, saying: "There is one modern technology that stands out in its terms of its ability to draw us closer to our trading partners; put Kiwis at the forefront of technological innovation; greatly enhance the way we do business and the way we communicate. That thing is ultra-fast broadband for all New Zealanders."

He then went to denigrate the plans of incumbent telco Telecom NZ and the policies of the incumbent Labour Government which will see Telecom rolling out a fibre to the node network. "Over the next five years, Labour and Telecom's plan is for fibre to be linked up to 'cabinets' in some communities and for that fibre to then be connected to homes and businesses through bits of copper. Labour has no plans to link fibre to the premises and homes of everyday New Zealanders. In Labour's words, 'the economics for this [fibre-to-the-home] to occur in the short to medium term are simply too challenging'. I don't think Labour's plan is nearly ambitious enough to future-proof New Zealand."

His solution: government intervention and government funding for fibre to the home. "I think this is a case where a future-thinking Government, with a view to the long-term and an appreciation of the wider public benefits, needs to step in...In Government, National will have two key tools available for speeding up the roll-out of fibre-to-the-home. The first is regulation, and the second is capital investment from the Crown Account...Our judgment is that it is in the best interests of New Zealanders for government to act to ensure our country has the future-proof broadband network needed to secure New Zealand's global competitive advantage...Our initial goal is to ensure the accelerated roll-out of fibre right to the home of 75 percent of New Zealanders." CONTINUED