Parliament passes legislation aiding the rollout of fast-fibre across New Zealand

Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister Kris Faafoi says the whole environment in which the communications industry operates has changed radically over the past 10 years photo / Mark Mitchell

A bill which will future-proof New Zealand's telecommunications industry and create a "highway of the future" has passed its third reading and will become law.

The Telecommunications (New Regulatory Framework) Amendment Bill will help with the rollout of fast-fibre internet around the country, including in more rural areas.

It prepares the telecommunications industry for "next generation technology and innovation", former broadcasting, communications and digital media minister Clare Curran said.

It does this by removing unnecessary regulation of copper fixed-line access service and streamlines processes to enable a rapid response to any competition problems, particularly in the mobile communications market.

The uptake of fast-fibre interest has been rapidly overtaking copper fixed-line services and the bill reflected this.

In June this year, 70 per cent of New Zealanders had access to Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) fibre and uptake had reached 44 per cent, according to Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister Kris Faafoi.

"The whole environment in which the communications industry operates has changed radically over the past 10 years," Faafoi said.

Curran said the new rules would help "future-proof New Zealand's rapidly changing telecommunications industry."

Speaking in Parliament last night, she said the legislation paved the way for the "highway of the future."

The legislation acknowledges the major disruption that had occurred in the telecommunications sector, with the replacement of New Zealand's copper network system with fast-fibre, she said.

"I think this is something New Zealanders can be proud of. While the eyes may glaze over when one thinks about regulatory frameworks, they are the underpinning of our system working well."

It was a bill that had been a number of years in the making.

It stems from the outcome from a review of the Telecommunications Act 2001.
It had included the work of a number of ministers and former ministers, including Steven Joyce, Amy Adams, Simon Bridges, Faafoi and Curran.

The bill passed with the support of the whole house.