Kim Dotcom and fibre

The HoS reports:

Kim Dotcom is proposing free broadband to all New Zealanders as he tries to resurrect the ill-fated Pacific Fibre cable connecting New Zealand to the United States.

Dotcom last night revealed his ambitious plans to build the $400m cable – which would double New Zealand’s bandwidth – set up his new Me.ga company, creating jobs and a data centre to service the rest of the world.

He would provide New Zealand internet service providers such as Telecom and Vodafone with free access for individual customers and charge a fee to business and central government.

Kiwis would still be charged a fee by the internet companies, but it would be as low as one-fifth of current bandwidth plans and three to five times faster with no transfer limits.

The $400m would be partly funded by Mega, raising additional funds from investors.

He added he could fund the project by suing Hollywood studios and the US Government for their “unlawful and political destruction of my business”.

I am keen to get more international bandwidth for NZ, and more competition with international cables.

However this pledge can in no way affect the legal process that Dotcom is facing. The extradition hearing in March 2013 must be based on the law, and whether the charges by the US Government are ones that warrant extradition. It is not the job of the NZ court to determine guilt or innocence – that is the job of any actual trial in US courts.

If Dotcom wins in the US courts, then I’ll welcome his investment in fibre for NZ. But his pledge can not and should not affect the legal process underway.