Peter Jackson and Ian Taylor are high visibility trail blazers that get front page coverage* whatever they do. And good on them. But their achievements can make it appear as if there is credible international broadband infrastructure, when the reality for less well known ICT entrepreneurs is somewhat different.
Ernie and I met with one such company today and heard about an ambitious project which, when it comes to fruition, will enable a significant group of professionals to work off shore without leaving the country. This company has the idea, the contacts and the ability to make it happen but what they don’t have is any sense of what it’s going to cost them to get a high speed broadband connection.
“We struggle to find what to do,” they told us. “Costing is a mystery.”
What they’ve done is commission a researcher to find out what pipes are in the ground and under the sea, and if there is anyone prepared to sell them capacity on an existing high speed connection. They’ve spent thousands of dollars on this research project - simply get to square one.
It’s like asking a single dairy farmer to put their own money into finding both the ship and the route on which it will travel as it carries their milk to international markets.
Surely, if New Zealand is serious about becoming a weightless economy it needs to start investing in shipping lanes for ICT entrepreneurs.
* Talking about front page coverage, Telecom’s million-dollar mea culpa over the Xtra Bubble made the lead story in today’s NZ Herald. They must now realise that you mess with peoples’ data connections at your peril.