New Zealand private firms' concerns addressed in broadband upgrades

Following the UK government's plans to give 100 per cent of the country access to broadband and connection speeds over 2 Mbps to nine in ten citizens, a similar campaign in New Zealand was subject to clarification this week.

The NZ Government is looking to make fibre-based broadband accessible to at least three-quarters of its population over the coming decade.

In order to do so, it has adopted a public-private partnership model - but some participating businesses are concerned how public-body intervention might harm their profits.

The country's Commerce Commission has now been confirmed as regulator for the Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative, but in a way that leaves it unable to have a negative impact on private businesses' earnings.

Should it intervene on pricing issues that could detract from providers' profits, the terms and conditions of their public-private partnership will now be amended to compensate for this.

Rosalie Nelson, research director for analyst IDC's New Zealand office, says: "This new regime represents a good interim solution until 2016, when we will see an entire review of telecommunications policy."