8. JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) Link to this
to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology
What progress has the Government made this week on the Ultra-fast Broadband Initiative?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Communications and Information Technology) Link to this
This week has seen further significant progress. I have just returned from Manaia View School in Whangarei, where the first stretch of fibre has been put in the ground, marking the beginning of the nationwide roll-out that will see 75 percent of New Zealanders have access to ultra-fast broadband. Deals have been signed with two companies, covering 16 percent of the premises targeted. These areas will be completed by 2015. I am very pleased that this important infrastructure project is under way before Christmas. The benefits should be available to the likes of the children of Manaia View School early in the new year.
Crown Fibre Holdings yesterday announced a further three parties that it will start to negotiate binding offers with for the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband infrastructure in the remaining regions. They are Enable Networks, covering Christchurch and Rangiora; Flute Network, a joint venture covering Dunedin; and Telecom New Zealand, covering all areas except those covered by the previously short-listed bids. This paves the way for further deals to be agreed to in the first quarter of next year and more regions to benefit from ultra-fast broadband.
Clare CurranWhy is the Government trusting Telecom to deliver the best ultra-fast broadband outcome for New Zealand, given its history of competition abuses, which is strewn with examples of non-compliance and obfuscation, including eight breaches of the Fair Trading Act since 2003, with fines and repayments totalling nearly $14 million, and one breach of competition law under the Commerce Act relating to Telecom’s high-speed data transmission offering, for which the Commerce Commission is reportedly currently seeking penalties of up to $25 million in the High Court?
First, I point out to the member that no deal has yet been done with Telecom. I also point out that she probably needs to decide which view she has in relation to that. Publicly she said on 5 July of this year: “It is not in New Zealand’s interests for Telecom to be run into the ground and excluded from the biggest network build for the next generation.”, so I am not quite sure what the member’s view is.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Minister did not answer the question; instead he told me what I had said.
Mr SPEAKERThe member asked why the Minister was trusting Telecom for certain things. If I remember the Minister’s answer correctly, he said no deal had been concluded yet. He then pointed out that the member had suggested herself that Telecom should not be excluded from these things. The question asked for an opinion on why the Minister was trusting Telecom, and the Minister gave an opinion. It is difficult for me to ask for a more precise answer than that.
I seek leave to table a media release from the Commerce Commission dated 18 June 2010, titled “1,300—
No, we do not table media releases as recent as that. Does the member have a further document that she wishes to table?
I will let the member further describe the document. This is published on a Telecom staff website, is it?—[ Interruption] Oh, the Stuff website; I beg your pardon. No, we do not do that.