Crown Fibre seeks input on regulation

Refined proposals on Ultra-fast Broadband initiative sought

ICT Minister Steven Joyce announced today that Crown Fibre Holdings will put out a “request for refined proposals” to all bidders in the government’s Ultra Fast Broadband initiative.

He says the “refined proposals” are to seek feedback around potential regulatory settings for the $1.5 billion fibre broadband network and to determine whether Local Fibre Cos should provide Layer 2 (that is active electronics) services.

"CFH will shortly be releasing a request for refined proposals. This is a commonly used tool in RFP processes to deliver greater value to the requestor. It allows CFH to fine tune its requests, having reviewed initial proposals from respondents. I expect the request for refined proposals will also include any changes to the UFB model, or the regulatory settings that surround it. Once responses to the request for refined proposals have been received CFH will begin commercial negotiations on the Crown's behalf with respondents," Joyce says.

"The Government made a deliberate choice to establish a Crown-owned company to evaluate proposals with commercial scrutiny, rigour and probity. I am confident that the recommendation to be made by Crown Fibre Holdings later this year will lead to a successful outcome for the UFB."

Joyce was speaking via videoconference at the Telecommunications &ICT Summit in Auckland this morning. In answer to questions from Computerworld he said he wasn’t able to clarify if there were still approximately 32 bidders in the running, but that he hadn’t been told by Crown Fibre Holdings that any had dropped out.

When asked if the request for refined proposals would delay the process of selecting partners for the UFB initiative, Joyce indicated that there was some flexibility in the timetable. So are they on still on track for announcing commercial agreements in September? “September, October, they’re all good months aren’t they?” he replied.