N.Z. selects Telecom, Vodafone for rural broadband

Bloomberg | February 7, 2011 | Iain Wilson
New Zealand’s government selected Telecom Corp. and Vodafone Group Plc as partners to build a broadband Internet network across New Zealand’s rural areas.
Commercial negotiations with the two companies have begun and are likely to be concluded by the end of March, Wellington- based Communications Minister Steven Joyce said today in an e- mailed statement. The contract is worth about NZ$285 million ($219 million), Joyce said in November.
Telecom, New Zealand’s biggest telephone company, and Vodafone submitted a joint bid to join the government’s Rural Broadband Initiative, which seeks to provide broadband to 95 percent of rural schools and 80 percent of rural homes within six years. Two other bidders were shortlisted in December.
“The joint proposal was the only one that increases mobile coverage,” Joyce said. “A successful project would include Telecom and Vodafone looking to use existing infrastructure where they can. I also expect to see affordable wholesale and retail prices from this investment.”
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