13 ISPs sign up to sell NZ fibre services
A total of 13 retail service providers have signalled their intention to provide services over the New Zealand Government's NZ$1.5 billion Ultra-Fast Broadband fibre network.
The Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative is designed to deliver broadband internet over fibre to 75 per cent of New Zealand residents over the next 10 years as a combination public-private partnership arrangement through the government-owned Crown Fibre Holdings business.
Crown Fibre Holdings today announced that the following internet service providers had signed letters of intent stating that they intend to sell retail services on the new network:
- CallPlus (Slingshot)
- FX Networks
- Kordia
- Maxnet
- Orcon
- Rural Link (Hamilton)
- TrustPower Kinect (Tauranga)
- Uber Group (Whangarei)
- Velocity Networks (Hamilton)
- Vodafone
- Woosh
- WorldxChange
- Xf Net (Whangarei)
The retailers have yet to indicate the types of products they would offer or prices for the services; however, Crown Fibre Holdings said this information should be released in the next few weeks.
Telecommunications Users Association of NZ (TUANZ) CEO Paul Brislen said the more competition on the network the better.
"It'll be great to see some retail prices out there so our users can plan their future telecommunications spend," he said in a statement. "TUANZ looks forward to seeing innovative and competitive pricing from these retailers."
Crown Fibre Holdings has been a source of controversy recently, with NZ Opposition ICT spokesperson Clare Curran questioning whether the company has a conflict of interest in being the investor, roll-out participant and the regulator of pricing on the network.