A refined plan for the ultrafast broadband initiative, based on the demerger of Telecom, has been submitted to the government.
Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds says that the proposal is predicated on the structural separation of Telecom, through a demerger into two companies which would give rise to Chorus2 as a new standalone company.
“This would be a significant event for our company and would radically transform the telecommunications sector in New Zealand. A significant structural change to Telecom's business would require 75% of the shares that are voted to vote in favour of the demerger proposal,” he said in a statement.
The telco giant says its new bid outlines a wide-ranging solution that will meet the vision of fibre to the home available to 75% of New Zealanders by 2019, with priority users reached by 2015.
“We have had more than 100 of Telecom's senior and most experienced people, including three members of my executive team, working full time on the refined proposal for CFH and simultaneously developing a detailed roadmap of the steps necessary for a demerger to occur, such is its importance to Telecom, its shareholders, and New Zealand as a whole,” Reynolds added.
Telecom has also proposed that the UFB initiative is integrated with the Rural Broadband Initiative.
“Integrating the two initiatives would allow for the extension of the reach of Ultra-fast Broadband into rural areas well beyond the 75% coverage area,” explained Reynolds. “The economies of scale that can be achieved through our proposal and utilising existing assets will mean rural New Zealand can more quickly get the benefit that fibre is set to bring. We have long held the view that the rural sector has both the need and the applications available to be able to take advantage of the benefits of fibre based telecommunications and we have been mindful of this as we developed our proposal.”
