A step change in broadband performance

The 2005 Digital Strategy was premised on broadband – as we knew it then. The new, interactive digital world is hungry for bandwidth, requiring high upload and download speeds. To meet this need, Digital Strategy 2.0 aims for a step change in broadband performance. In the next five years, the government is committed to delivering fibre-to-the-premise connections to businesses and public institutions (such as secondary schools, tertiary and research institutes, hospitals and libraries) in major centres, and significantly increased bandwidth connections throughout the entire country. This will enable speeds of a gigabit or more. For each of us, at home or on the move, connection speeds 20 to 100 times faster than today will be the norm within a few years. The government won’t allow limited bandwidth, or competition bottlenecks, to constrain ideas and innovation.

Openness is a central principle of Digital Strategy 2.0. Any network sponsored by government has to conform to open access principles. Open access means multiple connection providers can use the infrastructure to offer services to consumers. This open access to New Zealand’s core digital infrastructure promotes choice for consumers and will encourage better service and higher connection speeds.

Change is already happening. In the last two years, we have had the ninth highest percentage increase of broadband uptake among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and, in the last year, the sixth highest. The last three years have seen a complete shake-up of telecommunications regulation, to create a regime that encourages competition and investment. In all, the private sector has committed $2.5 billion in investment to 2012. The message from the sector is loud and clear: ‘We will invest and compete if the regulatory conditions remain stable.’

The government will invest at least $500 million into broadband infrastructure over the next five years, a down-payment on a ten-year plan to get fast broadband to New Zealand homes and businesses. $340 million of this investment was announced as the first stage of the Broadband Investment Fund (BIF). This Fund will co-invest in urban and rural broadband and will help deliver an additional international cable. In addition to the BIF investment, $160 million will be invested in broadband across the health and education sectors over the next five years, lifting productivity and effectiveness. For example, by 2012 all educational institutions will have access to a high-speed National Education Network, transforming the way our children learn. Libraries, schools and researchers will be connected, allowing them to enrich their content and assisting them to collaborate. Likewise, major health institutions will be connected to enable real time telemedicine and patient-centred e-health care.

This Strategy recognises the convergence of broadcasting, telecommunications and the IT sectors. That’s why we have been progressing a major review of digital broadcasting regulation. Over the next two years, the government will ensure that conditions are in place for innovation to flourish across these converging sectors. The effectiveness of current institutional arrangements will be considered, and any bottlenecks that affect access to content and digital networks and platforms addressed.