Connections chips in with broadband bid

By CHRIS BARTON

Connections Incorporated was the surprise contender to make Venture Southland's shortlist of companies to provide broadband to the region.

Connections which is part owned by UK company West 175 Group presented its broadband solution on Monday along with offerings from Telecom/BCL and Vodafone/Walker Wireless consortiums.

Venture Southland's Steve Canny said a recommendation will be made by September 27 and reviewed by Project Probe - the government's plan to assist regions getting broadband with "tens of millions" of dollars. The board of the economic and community development agency comprising Southland, Gore and Invercargill councils will vote on the recommendation on October 7.

The tender shortlist follows a request for proposals process begun in April for a "Whole of Community" broadband telecommunications service throughout Southland.

Wireless project manager Amber McEwen said Connections' proposal involved providing bandwidth and management of a predominantly wireless network which would be owned by the Southland community. Connections, which is a sister company to internet provider Actrix, runs a national fibre-optic backbone rented from BCL and has some 802.11 wireless services in Dunedin and Westport. McEwen said voice services would be provided using voice over internet protocol. Ownership of both Connections and Actrix is up for grabs at present as West 175 Group looks to quit its 60 per cent stake in both companies.

The Telecom/BCL proposal involves a combination of Telecom's wireline Jetstream and BCL's wireless technology using Airspan equipment for customers beyond the reach of Jetstream. Large parts of Telecom's Southland network cannot get Jetstream because of line speeds significantly slower than the 14.4 kilobits per second requirements of Telecom's Kiwi Share obligation. Venture Southland has also identified a lack of effective backhaul capacity necessary to provide broadband.

The Vodafone-Walker Wireless solution involves fixed wireless transmission equipment located on Vodafone cell towers and palm-sized wireless modems from California-based IP Wireless at customer premises.

Provincial Broadband Extension Project

Venture Southland request for proposals

Connections Incorporated

West 175 Media Group

Walker Wireless

Broadcast Communications Ltd