Sky TV blamed for fibre woes

Slow fibre uptake has been blamed on Sky TV's near-monopoly rights to movie and television shows and its strong lobbying.

NOW marketing manager Ben Deller said overseas fibre demand was due to subscription-based services, especially Netflix.

"At peak times in the US Netflix represents 50 per cent of internet traffic," Mr Deller said.

"But we are not allowed Netflix in New Zealand because of content-rights issues - Sky has a total stranglehold on it."

He said New Zealand was paying several times more than it should. "New Zealand is being absolutely slaughtered and as soon as the content laws are sorted out, and only then, will there be a massive migration to fibre, because people don't want to move to fibre for fibre's sake.

"A Netflix account costs US$9.99 ($11.70) per month and you can have access to anything that has been released in the US." Netflix had more US subscribers than the main cable and satellite network HBO.

He said picture quality on fibre was superior to satellite "because they compress the hell out of it to fit as much bandwidth through the satellite as they can".

"Sky could embrace fibre and relicense their rights to Netflix and clip the ticket - but why would Sky do it unless they are forced? At the moment they are absolutely milking it."

NOW chief executive officer Hamish White said politicians were "playing dumb".

'We've got to sort out this out. The Government is getting fed a whole lot of bull**** and propaganda by Chorus on what the inhibitors are of fibre when the elephant is sitting in the room - the content laws.

"Sky has the best political lobbying arm that this country has ever witnessed since Telecom in the old days. They have an access card through Parliament - they sponsor the bloody parliamentary rugby team. Seriously, they have infiltrated it and control it."

He has started his own lobbying, meeting with the CEO of the Telecommunications Users' Association of New Zealand and will soon meet Aimee Adams, Minister of Communications. Other ministries would be lobbied, not least Commerce. "The answer is simple - to drive uptake of fibre, which is what this Government wants, they need to sort the demand side out. The industry needs an intervention."