Government threat over broadband targets

The Government will step in this year if Telecom fails to meet its agreed targets for broadband adoption, says Communications Minister David Cunliffe.

Telecom has promised there will be 250,000 residential broadband connections by the end of the year. On January 1, it had 122,805 connections.

The Telecommunications Commissioner told Telecom a third of those connections need to be through other providers who buy wholesale bitstream service. Failure to comply could bring further regulation.

Telecom subsequently offered its resellers wholesale plans for 1Mbit/s and 2Mbit/s residential unbundled bitstream service (UBS) for DSL (digital subscriber line).

Cunliffe told an International Data Corp conference in Auckland yesterday that Telecom "will get there on the 250,000 but is not on the current track to make the wholesaling target".

In response to a question on Telecom's service levels and its decision to artificially constrain the UBS service at 128 Kb/s upstream, Cunliffe said he was not happy with the situation.

"You will see more of the video ref round mid-year," he said.

The Government was reviewing the Telecommunications Act.

"It is not to change the act but to make sure it works quicker and more efficiently," Cunliffe said.

Telecom releases it third-quarter results tomorrow, the same day the Commerce Commission will release its quarterly monitoring uptake of residential broadband.

Cunliffe said connectivity was not enough on its own. The New Zealand ICT sector should be looking for ways to grow demand.

"If we want to be at the forefront of ICT we need to be proactive, not waiting to see what everyone else does before we jump on board.

"In other words, we should be working at innovative solutions that will ensure that all people are aware of the benefits of ICT, can choose appropriate technologies for their needs and aspirations, and are able to use them effectively."

Cunliffe said firms needed to invest more in their staff and in research and development.

While the Government had doubled spending on research, private-sector research spending was ranked 29 out of 30 OECD countries.

"You need to up your game."