New Zealand based telco Telecom of New Zealand Ltd
(ASX:TEL) has had its proposal for the country’s planned national broadband network rejected.
CEO Paul Reynolds says given the company’s strongly principled support for the government’s vision to bring ultra-fast broadband to 75 per cent of New Zealanders, Telecom is disappointed the benefits of its national approach have been overlooked.
The telco’s proposal involved integrating the national broadband network into an expansion of its own network.
Mr Reynolds says the government has reiterated its wish to avoid duplication of existing, privately-funded world-class network infrastructure across New Zealand.
He says the government’s model set out in its announcement however, raises the distinct possibility of just such an outcome.
As of next month the New Zealand Government will begin looking at potential partners for its NZ$1.5 billion broadband investment program.
Telecom of New Zealand’s net profits have fallen in the last couple of years after reaching NZ$3 billion in 2007.
