Communications Minister Adams rolls out plan to extend UFB
Communications Minister Adams rolls out plan to extend UFB
By Paul McBeth
March 12 (BusinessDesk) -
Communications Minister Amy Adams today made good on an
election year pledge to extend the government's ultrafast
broadband fibre network to more regions, and expand its
rural connectivity offerings.
The government is
seeking feedback on proposals to widen the UFB footprint to
cover 80 percent of the nation's population, expand the
rural broadband initiative and improve mobile coverage in
areas that currently had none, Adams said in a statement.
The announcement was made in Kerikeri with Prime Minister
John Key, who is campaigning in the local by-election where
NZ First leader Winston Peters is on equal footing in recent
polls with the National Party candidate Mark
Osborne.
Adams said four Northland towns are strong
contenders to be included in the extended UFB, and
Northland's major city Whangarei is separately working to
become the landing spot for a proposed trans-Pacific
cable.
"Councils regularly lobby me for better communication services in their districts so we're inviting them to show us how they could support the roll-out and uptake of better services in their districts if the government was to provide them," Adams said. "More jobs and higher incomes, new business opportunities and improved access to education, healthcare and emergency services are just some of the benefits of better connectivity."
The
broader UFB programme is expected to cost between $152
million and $210 million, on top of the programme's $1.5
billion initial estimate, while the extension to the RBI
would need a further $100 million in funding through the
Telecommunications Development Levy, and another $50 million
to fill in the mobile black spots.
The Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment is seeking submissions
from local authorities to gauge their support for better
connectivity and potential suppliers for the extended
build.
(BusinessDesk)