In his keynote address at TUANZ Telecommunications Day in Wellington today, ICT minister Steven Joyce indicated that Government may consider allowing its proposed Local Fibre Companies (LFC) to offer layer two fibre access.
Although the Government’s proposal initially stated a preference for dark fibre, Joyce said in principle, he now sees no problem in allowing LFCs to provide layer two services.
Joyce said the issue of local fibre companies providing second layer access, as well as dark fibre, arose from several submissions on the Government’s Broadband Investment Initiative.
Joyce said the Government has taken on board these comments and industry-wide interest in layer two access and what it means.
However, if this is allowed, there will need to be transparency in pricing methodology and services to ensure best possible competition and to allow a variety of players to operate in the market.
Overall, Joyce said he was impressed by the quality and quantity of submission received on the Government’s fibre proposal, adding it was clear from the submissions that the importance of ultra fast broadband was well recognised.
He also acknowledges the submission received from Telecom and the newly formed Regional Fibre Group, saying these show there are early signs of healthy competition emerging.
“The submissions we received certainly provided food for thought – our policies will benefit significantly from the feedback received.”
Another issue where the Government might change its thinking is around the coverage of is proposal.
Following feedback from submissions on the coverage areas outlined in the Government’s proposal, it is now looking closer at this matter, Joyce said.
Joyce reiterated the Government’s vision for what it aims to achieve through the delivery of ultrafast broadband. He said since the health and education sectors will see the best return from the investment, it makes sense to focus the Government’s initiatives on these sectors first and to make sure take advantage of fibre when it arrives at their door.
The potential gains that can be achieved in education are higher that almost anywhere else.
Ultrafast broadband has the potential to bring the world into the classroom, and provide access to global educational resources to teachers and students.
“Our vision for ultrafast broadband is to transform the school experience.”
The challenge is to ensure that students do not have all the bells and whistles at home but at school they have to queue to use a computer for one hour, Joyce said.
Submissions also highlighted the importance of fibre in transforming the health sector to boost performance in service delivery and medical research. Ultrafast broadband will allow heath practitioners to spend less time on paperwork and more time on the frontline, and will enable functions such as remote diagnosing and high-resolution scanning in real time.
Joyce also issued reassurances that rural communities will also benefit from the Government’s broadband aspirations, not just main centres. “Our broadband commitment comes in two parts. We are looking at rural broadband separately because its issues are quite different than urban areas.”
Wireless technologies can play a significant role in rural broadband.
There is a need for pragmatic rural broadband programme, said Joyce, adding the Government is assessing a number of options for improving rural broadband and will make more announcement on this matter soon.
But Joyce also acknowledged that a degree of uncertainty about regulation remains and that this may contribute to difficulties in attracting capital. “We are looking at ways how the government can most appropriately provide regulatory certainty.”
Meanwhile turning to the mobile market, Joyce sais his team and Ministry of Economic Development officials are proactively preparing for any potential regulation resulting from the Commerce Commission’s investigations into mobile termination rates and national roaming charges.
Joyce is also keeping a close eye on moves in Australia to potentially regulate international roaming charges.
He also applauded the level of investment in new infrastructure from the three mobile networks, which amount to over $1-billion and “contribute to a vigorously competitive environment”.
He also made a passing remark about the recent court stoush between Vodafone and Telecom, saying he was pleased a settlement was reached.
Joyce concluded that while there were plenty of challenges ahead, he was still fully committed to delivering ubiquitous high speed broadband and 1000s of kilometres of high speed fibre across New Zealand.