In the debate over who will pay for the fibre networks in our cities and to our farms, the speeches delivered by Telecommunications Minister David Cunliffe and Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds at the Local Government NZ Broadband Forum last week make for interesting reading. Both mention the Resource Management Act and both suggest Public Private Partnerships as a viable investment model.
In his speech Paul Reynolds reiterates the company’s cabinetisation programme, which he refers to as “one of New Zealand’s largest ever infrastructure projects.”
“The building blocks of the network are 3,500 roadside cabinets, connected by 2,500 km of fibre – that’s enough fibre to more than stretch the length of New Zealand.”
Reynolds says that half those cabinets will require resource consents, and the company is already engaging with "a number of councils that are most affected (by) the potential workload heading their way". The government meanwhile is looking at introducing national standards that will cut through lengthy and expensive local RMA issues
Cunliffe also mentions upcoming legislation in the form of the Utilities Access Amendment Bill, which will “provide network operators with certainty in their engagement with multiple local authorities as well as providing greater clarity when seeking access to motorways or rail corridors for infrastructure building.”
Having suggested that Territorial Authorities may be forced to toe the national line when dealing with telco issues that relate to the RMA, Reynolds and Cunliffe then - ever so gently - put forward the idea that local government might like to put a little money into the pot for a broadband rollout in their area.
Reynolds: “I can tell you that Telecom New Zealand is also prepared to put its collective feet forward. We are willing to consider PPP (Private Public Partnership) options, for example. Other players – infrastructure providers, central and local government and other funders such as community trusts – also need to come to the party.”
Cunliffe: “The challenge for councils is to get smarter with the tools already available to you to assist with broadband roll out. To seek out public and private partnerships and find solutions to plug the gaps. And most importantly to share information and best practice.”
Cunliffe also suggests that councils should consider “using developer contributions to offset the costs of laying fibre”.
Other government initiatives include aggregating demand for broadband on the part of government and related agencies through KAREN and the Government Shared Network.
Then there’s the Forum taking place on Thursday this week which is being facilitated by Stephen Tindall in his capacity as Chair of the Growth Innovation Advisory Board and the NZ Institute. Business, finance and sector leaders have been invited to “promote increased levels of investment in telecommunications infrastructure.”
So there is progress being made in working out ways in which to fund high-speed broadband networks across the country, but is it enough?
As Reynolds points out in his speech, Telecom may have committed to $1.4 billion for its cabinetisation programme but the hard truth about a private company owning the country’s copper network is that its first loyalty is to its shareholders.
“Our company is accountable to a large shareholder base, 30,000 of whom are New Zealanders, who have an obvious interest in seeing a limited pool of capital marshaled in a way that supports the long-term growth of the company.”