Telecom-BCL given broadband contracts

By ADAM GIFFORD

The Government has given the Telecom-BCL consortium a consolation prize for missing out on the first three regional broadband tenders, giving it the Probe contracts for Waikato, Taranaki and Wellington.

Announcing the deal at Meremere Primary School yesterday, Education Minister Trevor Mallard refused to say how much the Government will pay to subsidise the roll-out of a minimum 512Kbps connection to every school lacking a fast internet connection.

"We're giving no financial figures because we're still in negotiations in other regions and we're trying to keep the cost down," said Mallard.

Announcements will be made soon about the other eight Probe (provincial broadband extension) regions. There will also be a contract for a satellite service covering the whole country.

The successful tenderers must take a whole-of-the-community approach, rather than just provide for schools.

The first three tenders, which were decided by the regions themselves, went to Walker Wireless and Vodafone, with the Telecom-BCL team a distant second or third.

Walker Wireless chairman Rod Inglis said work Telecom and BCL were doing with Fonterra to build a service for Fonterra shareholders might have given it an advantage in the dairying heartlands of Waikato and Taranaki.

"I don't think they want to give us all the regions," said Inglis.

Telecommunications Users Association chief executive Ernie Newman said some people would be disappointed that Telecom, whose Jetstream service is already widely available, was getting the Probe money as well.

"The other side is they have participated in an open tendering process and have presumably won due to a superior commercial and technical solution, so good luck to them," said Newman.

Road to broadband

May 2002: Government announces Probe project - a $30 million plan to promote broadband competition by requiring high-speed internet access to be available to all New Zealand schools by end of 2004.

July 2002: Northland, Wairarapa and Southland continue independently of the Probe process but are still eligible for Government funding.

October 2002: Venture Southland selects Walker Wireless and Vodafone for the region's future telecommunications; Telecom and TVNZ's transmission arm, BCL, formalise deal to tender for 14 regional Probe contracts.

February 2003: Venture Southland gets $2 million from the Government to help with its Southland rollout.

March 2003: Wairarapa Smart Region group chooses Walker Wireless/Vodafone as its preferred technology suppliers.

April 2003: Walker Wireless/Vodafone named preferred supplier of broadband in Northland.

July 2003: Telecom/BCL consortium wins Probe contract for Waikato, Taranaki and Wellington.