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February 06, 2011, 3:51 PM EST
By Tracy Withers
(Updates with government comment in fourth paragraph.)
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand’s government selected Telecom Corp. and Vodafone Group Plc as partners to build a broadband Internet network across New Zealand’s rural areas.
Commercial negotiations with the two companies have begun and are likely to be concluded by the end of March, Wellington- based Communications Minister Steven Joyce said today in an e- mailed statement. The contract is worth about NZ$285 million ($219 million), Joyce said in November.
Telecom, New Zealand’s biggest telephone company, and Vodafone submitted a joint bid to join the government’s Rural Broadband Initiative, which seeks to provide broadband to 95 percent of rural schools and 80 percent of rural homes within six years. Two other bidders were shortlisted in December.
“The joint proposal was the only one that increases mobile coverage,” Joyce said. “A successful project would include Telecom and Vodafone looking to use existing infrastructure where they can. I also expect to see affordable wholesale and retail prices from this investment.”
Telecom and Vodafone said Nov. 12 that they plan to combine their resources by extending Telecom’s existing cable infrastructure and Vodafone’s wireless network.
Joyce said their bid involves extending Telecom’s fiber network to deliver broadband to 252,000 rural customers. It also includes construction of 154 cell towers to improve mobile coverage in country areas and the direct connection of 719 rural schools to fiber networks.
--Editor: Iain Wilson
To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Iain Wilson iwilson2@bloomberg.net
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(Updates with government comment in fourth paragraph.)
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand’s government selected Telecom Corp. and Vodafone Group Plc as partners to build a broadband Internet network across New Zealand’s rural areas.
Commercial negotiations with the two companies have begun and are likely to be concluded by the end of March, Wellington- based Communications Minister Steven Joyce said today in an e- mailed statement. The contract is worth about NZ$285 million ($219 million), Joyce said in November.
Telecom, New Zealand’s biggest telephone company, and Vodafone submitted a joint bid to join the government’s Rural Broadband Initiative, which seeks to provide broadband to 95 percent of rural schools and 80 percent of rural homes within six years. Two other bidders were shortlisted in December.
“The joint proposal was the only one that increases mobile coverage,” Joyce said. “A successful project would include Telecom and Vodafone looking to use existing infrastructure where they can. I also expect to see affordable wholesale and retail prices from this investment.”
Telecom and Vodafone said Nov. 12 that they plan to combine their resources by extending Telecom’s existing cable infrastructure and Vodafone’s wireless network.
Joyce said their bid involves extending Telecom’s fiber network to deliver broadband to 252,000 rural customers. It also includes construction of 154 cell towers to improve mobile coverage in country areas and the direct connection of 719 rural schools to fiber networks.
--Editor: Iain Wilson
To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Iain Wilson iwilson2@bloomberg.net
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