WELLINGTON REGION BROADBAND PLAN
The Wellington Regional Strategy identifies broadband as a key enabler of economic growth and one of seven priorities. This is particularly around innovation and productivity benefits, but also high quality broadband infrastructure can transform the delivery of education and health services and facilitate new forms of community engagement and participation in public life.
Potentially significant environmental benefits are also receiving attention, such as reduced road congestion because of telecommuting and reduced air travel through the use of telepresence (very high definition) video conferencing.
Government announcement on Broadband
On 16 September Minister Steven Joyce confirmed the final details of what is now known as the Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative (UFBI)1 and on 29 September a draft of the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI). These are very consistent with what has been announced to date and is closely aligned with our own plans for broadband in the region.
The fundamental premise remains the same, that additional public sector funding is needed to improve the economics of base layer fibre infrastructure, and that this should be open access. The total quantum of government investment over the next few years is $1.5b for urban and $48m for rural, with an expectation there will be significant matching investment from the private sector, and some redeployment of funding collected under the Telecommunications Service Obligation.
In the UFBI, the regional approach continues, with some adjustments to coverage areas which now total 33 (but are able to be aggregated in any way). In our region the areas are the four cities, Masterton, and Kapiti. The business model for Local Fibre Companies (LFCs) has been refined to allow for “lit” services to be offered as a product as well as dark fibre.
The overall objective is to accelerate the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband to almost 80% percent of the New Zealand population over ten years, concentrating in the first six years on priority broadband users such as businesses, schools and health services, plus greenfield developments and certain tranches of residential areas.
There has been a slight amendment to the urban coverage areas in that Kapiti and Levin are now listed separately. Also the UFBI paper states:
“the absence of a population centre from the list does not mean that investment proposals covering those centres will not be considered... CFH will have the flexibility to consider economically rational proposals that include other population centres”.
This would allow proposals that included the towns along the two corridors in the region, which could be linked economically by backhaul fibre. As before, the most attractive proposition commercially would probably be to build in the four cities first, but proposals for the three areas with a slightly different mix of partners, or proposals that recognise the different economics, are possible. An open process for selection of UFBI investment partners will be underway in early October with proposals due in December. We expect that councils in the region will be closely involved in the process of working with potential bidders to develop proposals.
The Rural Broadband Initiative is in draft form and the scale of that project is now $300m in total. Along with direct government funding, a significant funding source will be a reconfigured Telecom Service Obligation (TSO) to produce a focus on new fibre-optic cable investment. There is a very strong emphasis on connecting rural schools as a priority, and there are about 18-20 rural schools in the region, with most of these in the Wairarapa.
Role of Local Government
The importance of local government support for this initiative is specifically referenced in the government documents, such as making local assets and land available, streamlining regulatory processes, facilitating partnerships with LFC investors, supporting the use of low-cost deployment technologies (such as micro-trenching, overhead and directional drilling), and overall, recognising the UFBI as a key strategic initiative for regions:
“It will be important to the success of the UFB Initiative that local government is engaged and supportive.
The government has stated that local authorities can contribute to the UFB Initiative by:
• making local assets and land available to be used;
• streamlining and coordinating regulatory processes and local authority interfaces;
• facilitating partnerships with LFC investors operating (or likely to operate) in their regions;
• supporting the use of low-cost deployment technologies (such as microtrenching, overhead and directional drilling) where appropriate; and
• overall, recognising the UFB Initiative as a key strategic initiative for their region.
Indeed, without strong local authority support, it is unlikely that the government’s objective can be fully met. It is also apparent that regulating for outcomes would be both lengthy and potentially counter-productive, meaning a collaborative approach is preferred.”
Workstreams
The intent is to facilitate the rollout of fast affordable broadband in the region and promote the use of it. We want to ensure that the Wellington region is at the forefront of these developments and is "fibre friendly".
These workstreams have been prioritised to focus on the areas that can be advanced most effectively and where the leverage is greatest. For example, the governance and funding areas have been on hold pending government announcements, and the trenching technologies area has been a focus because of the potential impact on LFC business cases.
Our priority workstreams are:
• Establish a stocktake of council policies on access to council assets (eg ducts, pipes, buildings), including charging regimes and legal agreements with a view to developing a region-wide policy
• Establish a stocktake of rules for aerial deployment around the region to determine where aerial deployment can take place
• Establish a stiocktake of councils rules rules for new trenching technologies with a view to establishing an agreed set of regional rules for new trenching technologies
• Establish a stocktake of council rules around road openings to establish a more regionally-coordinated approach to road openings.
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