Aurora joins the NZ Regional Fibre Group

28 April 2009

Aurora announced today that it has joined the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group. The Group is made up of lines companies and local fibre companies and has been formed to support the Government’s vision of introducing ultra-fast fibre broadband to New Zealand.

Group Spokesman, Simon Mackenzie, said that the NZ Regional Fibre Group brought together the collective wisdom and experience of several different regional operators with expertise in open access networks.

“We welcome the opportunity to submit on the Government’s Broadband Investment proposal which will leap frog New Zealand to world class broadband.

“With our respective capabilities and existing assets in electricity and fibre networks as well as associated rights of way, we believe that we are very well placed to help realise the Government’s bold vision of delivering fibre to the premise for New Zealanders.

“Our view is that the most effective means to achieve this vision is through a nationally aligned, regionally based model based on transparent, open access principles. Our membership pretty much spans most of New Zealand ensuring extensive broadband coverage.”

Mr Mackenzie said that in its submission the group had focused on two key areas:
(1) That the funding model needs to stack up commercially to provide returns for investors, and
(2) The need to ensure rapid and maximum fibre update – in particular that a market structure is created with low barriers to entry enabling open service competition to all segments of the market resulting in maximum customer choice.

“There is still a great deal of detail to be considered, to which the group can add significant value through its united collaboration and the leveraging of existing expertise.”

Members of the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group include Aurora, Vector, Northpower, Waikato based WEL Networks, Unison, PowerNet, Christchurch City Networks, Network Tasman, and Velocity Networks.

As well as a collective submission to the Government on its Broadband Investment Initiative, Aurora has provided an individual submission.

« Back to News Archive