21 May 2015

New broadband tax more wasteful spending

An extra $150 million is being pumped into a $300 million government rural broadband scheme despite officials admitting today they have no idea how many have people have been connected, Labour’s ICT spokesperson Clare Curran said today.

“The rural broadband initiative is looking increasingly like another example of wasteful government spending after MBIE officials admitted they can’t or won’t measure the connections.

“Spending a total of $450 million with no data to measure its success or failure is waste, pure and simple.

“The new spending comes from a levy on telco companies which will be passed onto consumers. It’s a broadband tax with no guarantee of results.

“We were told that legislation will soon be passed to extend the Telecommunications Development Levy to progress the second RBI scheme. We were also told there was no quantifiable evidence that this extension would improve internet connectivity.

“Internet NZ’s Policy director Andrew Cushen told the select committee we need to know whether the first rural broadband scheme is delivering before we commit to the second.

“The state of rural broadband is a looming headache for the government and another example of its regional neglect. Rural New Zealanders are beginning to realise they are badly served. Hundreds of communities are putting up with substandard services.

“The question has to be, will another $150 million be spent with such poor management and accountability and no idea of whether it had delivered?” says Clare Curran.

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