Wellington seeks more help for broadband plan

Telcos unwilling to build network for free, reports Tom Pullar-Strecker.

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast has tapped on the shoulder of Communications Minister David Cunliffe, Wellington MPs and other mayors for help in achieving the council's broadband vision.

Ms Prendergast admits she was somewhat disappointed by the response from telecommunications companies to a call for ideas on how to better wire up the capital.

Telcos have turned their noses up at the offer of free access to the city's sewers and other infrastructure in return for laying more fibre, leaving the council with the task of seeking a handout from the Government or justifying spending ratepayers' money.

The council agreed in March to take steps to improve the city's broadband infrastructure by 2012, floating a $40 million, two stage- plan, the first aim of which would be to lay 100 kilometres of fibre optic cable in council ducts and on trolley bus pylons to link schools, libraries and hospitals.

The network would then be built out to all suburbs. A third stage would see a wider deployment of fibre.

Ms Prendergast says the council received a good range of responses from 24 telecommunications firms, but none were willing to foot the bill for the network in return for access to the council's water pipes and other facilities.

"Nobody is saying 'we are prepared to put this much capital in, if you would be the partner and offer your conduits'. In an ideal world it be would like in San Francisco where the mayor went out and Google said they would do it for nothing, but that is a much bigger city and much more high profile."

The Government allocated $24 million through its Broadband Challenge fund in the 2005 budget to provide seed funding for community-led open access broadband networks, such as the one being contemplated by Wellington City Council, but the council decided not to pitch for funding at the time.

No fresh money was allocated to the fund in last year's budget, but Ms Prendergast is hopeful there may be additional cash next year after raising the matter with Mr Cunliffe and lobbying Wellington MPs for support.

"There is going to be the Digital Summit in Auckland in November and Mr Cunliffe was clear that though he could not make any early announcements he was hoping at that conference to be more clear about where the Government was going to be coming from."

The Government should also consider directly funding improved connections to schools, she says.

"I see there being a partnership between local government, central government and the private sector. If central government has these objectives – they are pushing it – they are going to have to put more money into it."

Ms Prendergast says she received support for a proposal that the Metro Mayors' Forum – a body comprising the mayors of New Zealand's 14 biggest cities – should work together so they cannot be "picked off" by telcos. Mr Cunliffe has been invited to its next meeting in November.

"If we band together, we can put together a package that gives us much more power."

She says she remains passionate about the council's broadband vision despite "push back" from the private sector, with TelstraClear opposed. Ms Prendergast says that though telcos might make the desired network improvements in time, the council may have to get involved if it wants to bring forward investment and promote Wellington's broadband infrastructure as a competitive advantage for the city.

Wellington telco CityLink, which already has an open access fibre network connecting businesses and government departments in the central business district, called last year for telcos to be allowed to lay fibre optic cables in shallow trenches to cut the cost of rolling out infrastructure. Ms Prendergast says this has been ruled out because of the risk of damage during roadworks.

- © Fairfax NZ News