Pork-barrel reek about auction of spectrum

By Richard Braddell

between the lines


Communications Minister Maurice Williamson is adamant there is no connection between the Government's decision to provide an extra $15 million for Maori language development and the pending auction of the 2GHz radio spectrum.

That may be so. But the Government's task of proving its case will be difficult if the auction goes ahead.

Many see an unholy tradeoff between Maori Affairs Minister Tau Henare and proponents within the cabinet, including Mr Williamson and probably Sir William Birch, who want the auction to go ahead. That it does, is seen as a good thing. Mr Williamson wants it to happen, and so, too, does Labour's Paul Swain.

The reason is simple. The spectrum concerned will be the vehicle for the next generation of high bandwidth mobile telephone services including high-speed internet connections. New Zealand needs such services if it is to remain competitive in the world.

But as Mr Swain characterised the situation yesterday: "Mauri Pacific leader Tau Henare has allegedly sold his consent for the auction in exchange for $15 million."

If that is so, then speculation is rife about what led to the decision. One version suggests that the cabinet split over the issue last Monday, possibly because Mr Henare decided a $15 million Maori language payout was not enough to compensate Maori for abandoning its claims to a chunk of the spectrum.

By Tuesday, the story was that the cabinet had agreed $15 million would be given for language development, but with no reference to a spectrum auction. If this is correct, then the reaction already suggests that the ploy will ruffle feathers.

Maori have long sought radio and television spectrum as the vehicle for Maori broadcasts. They have identified telecommunications spectrum as a taonga (treasure) that would propel them into the information age from the commodity base won in Waitangi settlements.

And many in the telecoms industry, as well as Mr Swain, are wondering why the Government would want to push a spectrum sale so close to the election.

They are concerned that if competition questions are not settled first, one of the two major players, Telecom or Vodafone, might foreclose the market, either to the other, or to new entrants.

Such fears are probably overstated. While there is nothing in the auction rules to stop one bidder buying all the spectrum Commerce Commission approval is mandatory before assuming ownership.

The commission already has a robust precedent for action. It forced Telecom to dispose of GSM spectrum in 1990. Yet the question remains whether today's commission would show the same fortitude.

All in all, the whiff of pre-election pork-barrel politics hangs over the issue.