$250m price tag on high-end internet network

By RICHARD PAMATATAU

The high-speed internet network craved by New Zealand researchers and tertiary educators may cost $250 million to build.

Tone Borren, chief executive of the Next Generation Internet project, said a powerful network which would allow researchers to plug into databases at overseas research centres or share resources could cost between $10 millon and $250 million.

Last week the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology recommended that the Government support such a network.

General manager of strategic development Andrew Kibblewhite said the ministry was aiming for a mid-year launch.

A discussion paper posted on the ministry's website says other governments have spent US$7.4 billion ($11 billion) on similar networks in the US, C$2.2 billion ($2.5 billion) in Canada and £1.2 billion ($3.3 billion) in Britain.

"An advanced network is the entry ticket for international collaboration. New Zealand is now one of the few developed countries without access to an advanced network," the paper says.

Advanced networks typically provide internet data links at more than 1 Gigabit a second, or 200 times faster than a Telecom Jetstream connection.

Borren said it was unlikely a high-speed network would be up and running by mid-year because it would "disrupt" the business models of the major telcos.

"They will have to rethink their billing completely and they are not ready for that, " he said.

The network would also have completely different technical requirements because it had to be built differently.

"We put a lot of work into it last year and there was a chance with vendor finance things could have been up and running by now. The carriers and their technology suppliers were interested."

There were lots of things to consider, said Borren, and a key point was who would be using the network, especially if it was extended outside the academic arena.

Neil James, Otago University assistant director of information services, has been pushing for a high-capacity network since 2000.

He said the announcement was great, as was the $8.2 million that the Tertiary Education Funding Committee would contribute.