Hidden cost of a great view

By PETER GRIFFIN

The chief executive of the Telecommunication Users Association (Tuanz), says the negative reactions of Auckland mayors to TelstraClear's cabling plans are "alarmist environmentalism".

Ernie Newman said Aucklanders were paying more for fixed-line telecommunications and internet access than users in Wellington and Christchurch only because competitors had been unable to crack Telecom's monopoly in the region.

"The environmental aspects have to be balanced against the need for development," he said.

"Even in inner suburbs of Auckland, there are people who can't get high-speed internet access."

TelstraClear is seeking resource consent for its cables in four areas of Auckland.

Applications covering seven other areas and parts of Manukau City will follow soon.

The company wants to use lines company Vector's power poles to carry overhead fibre-optic cables that would enable it to offer bundled telephone, internet and pay TV deals, similar to the Sky Fi packages Telecom offers in conjunction with Sky Television.

The mayors of Auckland, Waitakere and North Shore, and the deputy mayor of Manukau, have condemned the proposals.

Auckland mayor John Banks said the idea of overhead cables "freaks me out" and Waitakere mayor Bob Harvey described it as an "aerial horror story".

TelstraClear chief executive Rosemary Howard said the fierce price competition triggered by the company's arrival in Wellington and Christchurch would be repeated in Auckland if the network went ahead.

This would mean cheaper monthly bills and better service.

She estimated users in Wellington and Christchurch saved $100 each a year, whether they were TelstraClear customers or not, because of the company's presence in their cities.

The company would go underground "where electricity is or will be going underground", but a network totally underground would not be economical.

The protest over TelstraClear's plans for Auckland is cheering news for John Shrapnell, president of the Wellington Coalition of Residents Association, which campaigned unsuccessfully in the Environment Court to have TelstraClear's cables removed from the city's skyline.

"I'm glad the Auckland people have a number of council members and mayors who are willing to stand up and say they don't want the cables."

His association spent $20,000 taking its cable protest through the courts last year.

Mr Shrapnell said TelstraClear was now taking legal action to recover its costs of $25,000.

If TelstraClear's cables are approved in Auckland, they may be obsolete before customers get the chance to use them.

A number of companies are providing telecoms and internet services to residential and business customers over wireless networks.

In Auckland, Walker Wireless and ihug are installing wireless base stations - looking much like Sky television satellite dishes - at homes to deliver high-speed internet services.

Sky's television programmes are already without wires for mostof its customers.

Ms Howard said wireless technologies did not have the quality and reliability of a fibre-optic network.

Delivering voice phone calls wirelessly was also technically difficult.

If a decent wholesaling arrangement could be negotiated with Telecom, it could provide an alternative in areas, she said.

"But it would have to give us a margin."