TelstraClear cable plans stymied

By PETER GRIFFIN

TelstraClear has been given approval by the Auckland City Council to begin constructing an underground fibre network in the region.

But bigger issues may stall the venture before it begins.

The company wants to piggyback on the underground network of electricity-lines company Vector, laying fibre cables capable of delivering telecoms, internet and pay TV services as Vector gradually puts more of its electricity cables underground.

But Vector chairman Wayne Brown said there were "not synergies in all that many places" that the two companies could exploit, because Vector's underground network was largely inaccessible to TelstraClear and a legal dispute over access to Vector's overhead lines was unresolved.

"In most cases our main [underground] wires are in proper backfill, not ducting," said Mr Brown.

TelstraClear would be able to gain access to the network only where Vector intended to relay sections of cable.

"And where we are underground, it means there's a street with no poles and wires to use overhead."

Vector planned to complete underground wiring at a cost of $10 million a year and welcomed TelstraClear to share the cost of going underground.

"Where we are going underground and they want to go underground, that's fine," said Mr Brown. "We would be quite happy to open them up to everyone and share the cost."

But he described the legal dispute between Vector and TelstraClear over access to Vector's network of electricity poles as being "parked at the moment".

He said he had been advised not to comment on the issues at the heart of the legal action.

But he hinted that public opinion played a part in Vector's reluctance to let TelstraClear attach cables to its overhead lines.

TelstraClear is expected to lodge separate applications for the overhead portion of its network it still expects to complete with Vector's help.

But those applications will likely go out to public submission and attract strong scrutiny from the council.

The council's planning fixtures subcommittee heard TelstraClear's application for the underground cabling last Friday, ruling under the Resource Management Act that the application would not have to be open to public submission.

City development committee chairwoman Juliet Yates said clearing the way for underground cabling was a sign that the council encouraged all utilities to go underground - but plans for overhead cabling would be a different story.

"TelstraClear told us that they would be able to construct the network completely underground," she said.

"If they come back to us with another application to do something different, we have what they said on record."

TelstraClear spokesman Quentin Bright would not comment on the legal dispute with Vector and said details of the company's network plans had not been finalised.

"There are a whole lot of options we haven't decided on yet," he said.

While TelstraClear wants to have its own network in Auckland, legal and resource consent issues may force it into the arms of rival Telecom which has an Auckland-wide network able to deliver broadband services over copper wires.