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A scrap has broken out over New Zealand's fourth generation telecommunications spectrum.
The introduction of 4G is still at least three years away, but Maori say they want ownership of the radio frequency used to deliver the technology.
The Maori Council claims it is entitled to the new telecommunications 4G spectrum under the Treaty of Waitangi as the Waitangi Tribunal ruled spectrum was a taonga (treasure), making it Maori property under Article Two of the Treaty of Waitangi.
New Zealand Maori Council Executive spokesman, Richard Orzecki, says there are Maori interests that need to be recognised.
The 4G spectrum is a set of airwaves that will soon be used by telecommunication companies to deliver high speed broadband and mobile services to the whole of New Zealand. The spectrum is currently used for transmitting the old style analogue TV but by 2015 the only TV Kiwis will be able to watch will be digital, leaving the spare spectrum for the telcos.
Communications Minister Steven Joyce is pouring cold water on the Maori Council claims.
"The government won't consider handing over, in any respect, the 4G spectrum to any single player including Maori," says Joyce.
Joyce says successive governments have not accepted that spectrum is a taonga.
"So it would be a very significant shift for the current government to move from that," he says.
"Because spectrum was not in use at the time that the treaty was signed and was not known at the time that the treaty was signed, it's difficult to argue it was taonga."
Joyce says he has agreed to represent the Maori Council's views fairly when he discusses the issue with Cabinet.
The government has accepted a role for Maori spectrum through the promotion of Maori language and culture and Maori economic development, he says.
There will be no change in the provision of broadcasting frequencies for Maori culture programmes.
Held to ransom?
Industry representatives say sole ownership of the spectrum could lead to consumers being held to ransom.
"We'd be really concern if one organisation or group had control or a monopoly over the spectrum. That would end up creating real problems for New Zealand," says Telecommunications Industry Group spokesman Rob Spray.
But the Maori Council say it is open to having shared ownership.
There are three Maori claimants currently in talks with the
government, although any type of negotiation is said to be a long
way off.
