Download Weekly: Rural broadband expansion
Regional networks to get $50 million injection
$50 million has been set aside for 'shovel ready' rural broadband projects. The investment was announced by infrastructure minister Shane Jones and communications minister Kris Faafoi.
This week's announcement is on top of to the $15 million announced on April 29.
The new money will come from the government's $3 billion infrastructure fund which is part of the Covid Response and Recovery Fund.
The ministers say the investment will reach most areas of New Zealand. There is a priority list. At the front of the queue are Northland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Top of South and Canterbury. After that the investment will extend to Gisborne, Manawatu-Wanganui, Auckland rural areas and Otago. The it will be Hawkes Bay, West Coast, Taranaki, Wellington (rural), and Southland.
Capacity in congested areas
Minister Kris Faafoi said that the focus of the $50 million funding would be on adding capacity in congested areas. It will focus on those areas that experienced capacity constraints during the pandemic lockdown. This mainly happened in high density areas and on urban fringes.
The first project under the new fund will see a further 380 Northland homes and businesses connected to the UFB network. These will be connected by Northpower Fibre and will improve capacity around Whangarei, Dargaville and Mangawhai Heads.
Where it is economic, the expansion means fibre. Yet the ministers say the funds can go to any broadband technology and will include wireless.
TCF celebrates success, warns on investment
After celebrating the industry's pandemic performance telco CEOs warned industry returns do not reflect the investments being made in networks and services.
The CEOs were speaking at an online event marking the release of the 2020 Telecommunications Industry Report. CEO speakers included Jolie Hodson from Spark, Jason Paris from Vodafone, JB Rousselot from Chorus, Mark Callender from Vocus and Steve Fuller from Enable. Mat Bolland represented 2degrees and Peter Calderwood spoke for Trustpower.
On the plus side of the ledger the speakers pointed to the high numbers of customers now having fibre access and the industry's ability to cope with surging lockdown traffic.
Third for mobile connectivity
TCF CEO Geoff Thorn says New Zealand is third in the world for mobile connectivity. The report went on to reveal that New Zealand has the fourth highest level of telecom investment in the OECD when measured relative to GDP.
This could prove to be unsustainable. New Zealand's telecommunications average prices are lower than ever. Thorn says prices have fallen while prices for other services including electricity and gas have risen.
During a panel discussion Vodafone CEO Jason Paris noted that New Zealand continues to build great networks that keeps the country competitive. And yet, he says, there is a danger we could reach a point where further investment is uneconomic.
Out of whack
He says the the economics are "out of whack" when people walk into a Vodafone store, spend $2000 on an iPhone and complain about paying $20 to get it connected.
Rousselot say carriers need to do more to explain the value of telecommunications to customers. He says people are getting a lot more value for a price that is not growing exponentially.
He says; “We need to get to a point where the market acknowledges the value that connectivity brings across all technology and is ready to pay a price that reflect the investment that needs to be made in the background to cope with capacity growth, to cope with the extra demand for resiliency.”
A million connect to UFB
Kris Faafoi, the Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media noted this week that a million homes and businesses are now connected to the UFB network. He says uptake is at 58.9 percent. Faafoi says he was pleased with the performance of the network during the Covid-19 lockdown despite record activity levels.
InternetNZ adds Cert threat feed to Defenz
InternetNZ says its Defenz DNS Firewall is using the Cert local threat feed to broaden its ability to detect online risks. The firewall is InternetNZ's first commercial product. It shields users from phishing attacks, malware, ransomware and botnets. The organisation says it has already blocked New Zealand specific threats.
A slew of mobile hardware from Samsung
Phone maker Samsung launched a range of mobile devices this week. The big launch was the Galaxy Note 20 phone and the Note 20 Ultra. Both support 5G mobile calling. There are two new tablets, Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+, along with the Galaxy Watch 3. While the latest Samsung folding phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 was not launched at the company's event, it was previewed.