Community-owned telcos under consideration

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Friday 16th November 2001

A newly formed lobby group is warning that rural communities may consider setting up their own telecommunication companies unless they get a better service from the big players.

The committee, known as the NZ Broadband Communications Steering Group, says local communities may be spurred to action because of the apathy from large telcos about developing high-speed services outside the major centres.

Southland-based convenor, Steve Canny, says community telcos are common in countries such as the United States but unheard of in New Zealand, where large corporates dominate the telecommunications sector.

"If the regions don't take a stand and proactively overcome the barriers of delivering high speed communications to their communities, there is a real chance it will never happen in rural New Zealand."

Mr Canny admits that a community-owned telco is a fallback position in Southland, which would prefer the current companies to foot the bill.

"But we recognise that Telecom (NZSE: TEL) is probably unwilling to make the investment - so rural communities may have no option but to become their own telecommunications service provider.

"It's an issue facing Northland, Southland, Otago, Westland, the East Coast, Wairarapa, Waikato, and every other corner of rural New Zealand. That's why we're taking a cooperative, regional approach to the challenge of bringing modern telecommunications to even the most remote parts of New Zealand."

Representatives from rural areas met in Wellington earlier this week to elected the five-member committee at a meeting hosted by the Ministry of Economic Development.

Mr Canny, who is also the development, policy and special projects manager for Venture Southland, says the feasibility of a community-owned telco is already being explored in the Far North, and the concept is attracting interest in other areas.

"Emerging technologies would allow community telcos in rural areas to bypass Telecom's copper network," he says.

"We are interested in seeing robust, stable communications networks established that could, if necessary, replicate the existing copper network, and also provide a very significant growth path for future services."

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