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Govt gives green light for NZRFG to pioneer fibre networks

Published on December 7^th 2010, 2:19pm

Crown Fibre Holdings has today confirmed that Northpower and Ultra Fast Fibre Limited (owned by WEL Networks and previously known as the Central North Island Fibre Consortium) have been successful in negotiations around the Government’s Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative.

Northpower will build a fibre network in Whangarei, while WEL Networks will roll out fibre in Hamilton, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Hawera and Tokoroa.

The deals are worth over $200 million and encompass nearly 16 per cent of UFB premises.

Jack Ninnes, WEL’s UFB Bid Project Manager, says he is delighted with the outcome.

“We are absolutely on cloud nine and are thrilled to be part of the UFB rollout,” says Mr Ninnes.

“Planning will start immediately with work scheduled to begin mid next year on the 5000km network with completion in five years. It will potentially bring fibre access to 430,000 customers. This will deliver a significant improvement in broadband services that very few people currently have access to. We are looking forward to getting stuck in and completing the fibre build.”

Mr Ninnes labels it a great result for the Government and the community. He believes it has paved the way for the Government to strike deals with more members of the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group.

“If Crown Fibre Holdings can strike a deal with us across such a large catchment of regions, I see no reason they can’t do likewise with other members of the NZRFG for building fibre networks in the remaining 25 UFB regions.”

WEL CEO Dr Julian Elder has previously labelled the UFB initiative as a chance for a major step-change for regional economies, while also lauding fibre as New Zealand’s future communication landscape.

Northpower CEO Mark Gatland has welcomed the announcement also, saying it is the culmination of three years of hard work by the Northpower fibre team, alongside members of the NZRFG.

“The Whangarei fibre network will provide widespread economic and social benefits for the city. It will be revolutionary,” he says.
 
Mr Gatland says the consumer-owned company intends to get the UFB build underway and built in 3 years. Starting off with the central business district will revolutionise opportunities for local businesses.

“We are immensely pleased with this result for Northland. It is great to have reached agreement with CFH and we look forward to expanding our existing fibre network as we have seen how much it has spurred the development of new service providers and driven increased efficiencies for local consumers,” says Mr Gatland.
 
“Whangarei is now at the forefront of one of New Zealand’s first Government-backed fibre network builds, which really is a form of future-proofing New Zealand’s communications infrastructure. This decision is huge for the regions because of what it will give them access to.”

Meanwhile, NZRFG CEO Vaughan Baker says the awarding of contracts to Northpower and WEL endorses the merits of the NZRFG’s local, community owned, and regionally focussed approach to communications infrastructure.

“This Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative fundamentally changes the current industry structure by separating services from an underlying locally owned utility infrastructure. This has been a key plank underpinning the NZRFG since day one and in our opinion needs to be applied consistently across the entire market.

“In effect, CFH has endorsed the model we have proposed from the start and I see strong merit in more of our members completing fibre network builds in the other urban centres around the country. This really has reinforced the expertise our members possess when it comes to fibre network builds,” says Mr Baker.

“I look forward to more negotiations progressing with members of the NZRFG and CFH. Our members remain willing and able to begin building more fibre networks now,” says Mr Baker.

Find out more about our Fibre developments in the Fibre Network Section

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