NZ accelerating into ultra-fast era

Large medical documents, such as results from an MRI scan, will be sent by email rather than courier. Photo / Thinkstock

The Government has awarded the last of its ultra-fast broadband contracts, with Telecom winning the bulk of the $1.35 billion tender. But what happens now? And just how will faster internet benefit New Zealand?

Telecom will split from its network-arm, Chorus, which will become a separate public company with an all-new board and corporate structure.

It will get its own listing on the stock exchange and Telecom shareholders will get a stake in the new company equivalent to their current holdings.

The split is subject to a shareholder vote and Government approval and will happen by the end of the year.

Chorus and the other contract winners (Enable Networks, WEL Networks and Northpower) will roll out fibre internet cables across the country, giving 75 per cent of New Zealand internet speeds of 100 megabits per second by 2020 - more than 20 times faster than today's average speed. Hospitals, business and schools are first in line to get a fibre connection, and will be hooked up by 2015.

So how can New Zealand take advantage of ultra-fast broadband?

BUSINESS

The Government has promised that fibre internet will boost productivity and help New Zealand close the economic gap with other countries.

NZICT group chief executive Brett O'Riley said one benefit would be high quality video-conferencing, which will allow companies to connect with clients face-to-face without needing to leave the office.

"This isn't just for online meetings, but for staff training as well. You'll be able to train people without having to fly them around the country," he said.

O'Riley said video links will also allow business to monitor their premises more easily. Owners of stores, for instance, will be able to remotely check how many customers are in their shop at any given time.

As well as this, he said fibre internet will allow more companies to outsource their IT and cut costs.

AT HOME

If international trends are anything to go by, ultra-fast broadband will change the way New Zealanders watch television and give households access to more shows, movies and documentaries. According to US media, online TV and movie services make up 30 per cent of American web traffic during the evening.

Many New Zealand internet companies have already signed deals with Sky Television for its iSky service, which allows subscribers to watch movies and shows on their computers.

However, in a fibre future, New Zealand television sets should be able to plug into the web, making a range of content available via the remote.

HEALTH

Ultra-fast broadband will allow large medical documents, like MRI scans, to be sent via email rather than by courier and allow doctors to monitor more patients remotely.

"Tele-health technologies will allow patients to self-monitor their health at home with appropriate medical oversight - including the ability for doctors to inspect [patients] visually with high-definition, two-way teleconferencing," said Health Minister Tony Ryall.

This will help unclog hospitals and allow patients to be discharged sooner.

Orion Health's Ian McCrae said many health practitioners are already offering tele-health services, but UFB will improve the quality and lower the cost of this service.

EDUCATION

Director of e-learning at CORE Education, Derek Wenmouth, says faster broadband will give schools the ability to share resources more easily and reliably.

"[Through video-conferencing] you can have an expert teacher in one school teaching students at another. This is where speed becomes really important, because you can't run an effective video conference and can't transfer multi-media on low speeds," Wenmouth said.

This is particularly useful for remote schools which do not have staff who can teach all subjects.

Fibre also has the potential to allow students who are off sick from school to keep up to date with their schoolwork via an internet-link at home.

BOOST FOR QUAKE CITY RECOVERY

The Christchurch company awarded ultra-fast broadband contracts says the scheme will help boost the city's recovery.

Enable Networks won the Government tender to lay fibre internet cables throughout Christchurch, Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Woodend, Lincoln, Prebbleton and Rolleston.

The Christchurch City Council-owned company already has 350km of fibre in the ground, but will lay another 3500km by the end of the project.

The scheme will offer all residents, businesses, hospitals and schools internet speeds of 100 megabits per second by 2020.

Enable's acting chief executive Malcolm Campbell said fibre will play a key role in rebuilding Christchurch's economy. "We're already hearing of some companies who are choosing to come to Christchurch and we need to make sure we provide world-class infrastructure [for them]," Campbell said.

Chairman Bill Rundle said the broadband build meant Enable would take on more staff. "The UFB project will provide direct employment opportunities within Enable and we expect to generate over 250 contracting and construction jobs in the next year." The flow-on effect from fibre would be worth almost half a billion dollars for the Christchurch economy.

"We anticipate that for the initial 10-year spend of around $440 million, some 1400 jobs will be generated in the region, providing a significant stimulus to local GDP. We haven't seen a local infrastructure project of this scale in our lifetime," said Rundle.

Telecom's communications and technology branch Gen-i, which is one of the region's biggest employers, said the rebuild offered an opportunity to create a city of the future.

Chief executive Chris Quin said that a result of the tremors, companies that were located in the CBD had become spread out, with staff working in different parts of the city, or doing their job from home.

Rather than treating this as a temporary measure, Quin said companies should change the way they operate and treat this as a way of escaping from "brick and mortar" infrastructure. "The opportunity for Christchurch is that it can now transform," he said.

This story has been changed from an earlier version which said Gen-i's chief executive was Paul Quin.