CallPlus is blaming the scheduling of a spectrum auction for December as the cause of delays in the rollout of a nationwide wireless broadband network using WiMax technology.
The National Business Review reported today that Japanese bank Marubeni had verbally withdrawn a $450 million financing package that wasto fund the CallPlus rollout.
It quoted a source who said the technology the expansion was based on had run into difficulty, although it could probably be fixed.
"The original deal is off," the source said.
CallPlus chief executive Martin Wylie told NZPA today the technology did work.
Deployment delays were principally tied in with the Government's announcement six weeks ago that it would be holding a spectrum auction in December, he said.
Last September CallPlus said it was preparing for a national roll-out of its WiMax service, which uses radio frequency rather than conventional wires for voice and broadband, this year.
Mr Wylie announced the $US450 million ($NZ581.7 million) finance package in January, saying only that it was from a major Japanese trading house.
Today he said that due to delays CallPlus had not drawn down on the funding. He was subject to confidentiality requirements and not prepared to say more.
Asked if the funding was still available, he said: "We're not drawing down on it today, potentially the funding will be reinstated and we've got other sources.
"It's more a case of delay and therefore we're not drawing down on the funding at the moment."
With the announcement that more spectrum was to be come available, CallPlus could need to reconsider which spectrum band to deploy equipment in, Mr Wylie said.
If the company changed from the spectrum it was using now, it would need to acquire a new set of equipment and then trial it.
