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A $900 million plan for a high speed broadband connection aims to close the digital divide between New Zealand and the rest of the world.
A group of local businessmen has unveiled plans to build a 13,000 kilometre undersea fibre cable between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, with five times the capacity of the existing Southern Cross cable which connects through Hawaii.
One of Pacific Fibre's founders, Mark Rushworth, says the project could generate billions of dollars for the New Zealand economy and could end the frustration for consumers and businesses trying get onto the internet at peak times.
"$900 million is a lot of money, but it's a big project that is connecting both New Zealand and Australia with the rest of the world which has huge financial benefits for both countries," he says.
The group includes high-flying Kiwis like Warehouse founder Sir Stephen Tindall and Trade Me's Sam Morgan and Rushworth says now they have announced their intention, the group can have public discussions with potential customers and investors.
He acknowledges there is a lot of work to be done to get the cable into the sea and to raise the necessary money but Rushworth says "once you've built that bridge over to the rest of the world you've got opportunities for inward investment as well".
The phones have rung hot with public support and investors are already indicating early interest, says Rushworth.
And he says carriers have also expressed interest in taking capacity on the new cable which would remove restrictive data caps on many broadband plans.
While the government has not promised financial support, Rushworth says the proposal "works nicely with the government's plan to roll fibre out to homes and businesses".
"Having government supporting this would make it easier," he says.
ONE News approached Communications Minister Steven Joyce for comment on Friday but he would only say he was excited about the new development and that it was good to see another potential player step up in the international bandwidth stakes.
Frustrated Kiwis
Rushworth says New Zealand needs international capacity so it can connect with rest of world, and for small businesses competing in the local marketplace it would bring the rest of the world closer.
"What we're seeing is an increasing digital divide between New Zealand and the rest of the world, and very, very frustrated New Zealanders and Australians at 7.00pm when the internet starts to get congested and we have very restrictive data caps. We want to break all that open."
Telecom unconvinced
Telecom, who half-own the existing cable, says the Pacific Fibre plan is unnecessary and ambitious.
"You could write a book on the Southern Cross experience which had its pitfalls and rocky roads - everything from snails in Moro Bay in California that had to be moved though to refinancing requirements and so on," says Telecom's Matt Crockett.
But Rushworth says while the logistics of the task are huge, the actual laying of the 13,000 kilometre cable is relatively short. He says they estimate the project could be completed in 22 months.
