FYI guys....
Thanks to CommsDay for the information.... We’re just here
at NZNOG and it would be of massive interest to everyone in the room.
...Skeeve
--
Skeeve Stevens, CEO/Technical Director
eintellego Pty Ltd - The Networking Specialists
skeeve@eintellego.net / www.eintellego.net
Phone: 1300 753 383, Fax: (+612) 8572 9954
Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 / skype://skeeve
www.linkedin.com/in/skeeve ; facebook.com/eintellego
--
NOC, NOC, who's there?
Australasia's
telecommunications daily since 1994 incorporating The Line of New Zealand
BREAKING
NEWS
Telecom NZ
submits two bids, Vector, TeamTalk also in the race for NZ FTTH rollout funds
Bids
close this afternoon for the New Zealand Government's NZ$1.5 billion
fibre-to-the-home project. The government is looking for partners to invest and
participate in up to 33 local fibre companies. Although the submissions are
confidential, many potential participants have gone public with at least some
information.
Telecom
NZ submitted two proposals, one compliant and one non-compliant, as well as
expressing an interest in coming to an accommodation with the government even
if these plans are rejected. The company said a national approach is required
to deliver "a consistently engineered and interconnected network". It
also talked in terms of not duplicating what has already been built.
In
a media statement CEO Paul Reynolds said; "In addition to the two
proposals Telecom is submitting, Telecom is open to discussing other
alternative proposals which achieve the government's objective, avoid
unnecessary waste and align the incentives and investment plans of both the
government and Telecom".
The
published terms of the project expressly forbid a telco from participating if
it has both retail and wholesale operations - effectively ruling out
Telecom NZ while it retains control of its Chorus access network division. This
has triggered speculation the company is considering divesting itself of the
business - even though there have been repeated assurances this is not in
prospect.
One
of the two proposals involves building on the company's existing
fibre-to-the-node as a springboard for fibre-to-the-home. Telecom's two bids
are a function of the submission process where bidders offering a non-compliant
bid must also submit a compliant bid and explain why non-compliance is
preferable.
In
its bid, Auckland-based lines company Vector has gone for speed promising to
deliver ultra-fast broadband to the premises across the city in seven
years - beating the government's target by three years. The submission
says its compliant bid means fibre will pass 133,000 premises within two years
and connect more than half of all businesses within four years. Like Telecom
NZ, Vector's public statements make much of its ability to "leverage
existing assets".
Vector
is a member of The New Zealand Regional Fibre Group (NZRFG) which says a number
of other members have submitted proposals. The NZRFG said it is
"Developing a proposal which could provide a dramatic step-change through
the creation of an open access, national layer 2 (or lit) fibre network".
NZRFG
members have submitted consortium bids for the Waikato and the Otago and
Southland regions.
Northpower
submitted a bid for the Northland region. David Ware of TeamTalk confirmed to
CommsDay his company's bid for the Wellington region. He said his company was
among the first in the world to do "metro dark fibre stuff" and has
10 to 15 years experience along with the resources and relationships to handle
the job. - Bill Bennett
More
details in Monday's CommsDay