Telecom, Vodafone in joint broadband bid

A joint bid by usual rivals Telecom and Vodafone is competing against a collaboration involving several other major infrastructure companies for the Government's $300 million rural broadband project.
Yesterday was the last day of the tender process for the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI), for which the Government issued a request for proposals in August.
Telecom and Vodafone said they had proposed to combine resources to build new, open access network infrastructure to provide broadband in rural areas using a range of technologies.
The proposed solution would extend Telecom's existing fibre infrastructure by 3000km taking it to key rural points, including schools and hospitals, while Vodafone would build 154 new mobile towers.
Both fibre and wireless components would be available on an equivalent basis to access seekers and wholesale customers, allowing any party to offer a retail service over the new infrastructure.
Competing with the telcos' proposal is one from the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group (NZRFG) of mainly lines companies, including such operators as Vector, Unison, PowerNet and Horizon Energy.
NZRFG chief executive Vaughan Baker said the group's business model and build design would ensure a substantial fibre-rich backbone, which service providers could use to provide fixed, wireless or mobile broadband options.
The group's members were locally owned and regionally situated, embodying the principles of open access infrastructure on a non-discriminatory basis - more so than any other bidder, Mr Baker said.
They were the "natural custodians" of such essential infrastructure that would increasingly be treated as a utility over the next 100 years.
Vodafone chief executive Russell Stanners noted that his company and Telecom coming together was not a sight that was often seen.
"For us it makes perfect sense to work together to combine our assets, our investments, and our skills to build a solution that meets those requirements," he said.
"It is a unique collaboration which, if successful, and it is only a bid at this stage, in our view will make a step change in what we can provide to rural communities in the telecommunications area."
An additional benefit of Vodafone's plan to build 154 new open access towers was that it would dramatically increase the mobile capability in rural communities.
Mark Ratcliffe, chief executive of Telecom's network business Chorus, said collaboration would enjoy the fastest possible start because it was building off existing infrastructure.
The initiative seeks to provide fibre to 97 per cent of rural schools and a minimum 5 megabits per second (Mbps) broadband service to 80 per cent of rural households within six years. A decision is expected by Christmas.