Speeding up the UFB installs

Amy Adams has announced:

Communications Minister Amy Adams has today released a raft of proposals to help speed up the installation of Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB).

The discussion document outlines four proposals for change:

• amending the way in which network operators seek permission to access private property (in situations like shared driveways and apartment buildings)

• enabling better use of existing utility infrastructure to more efficiently roll out fibre networks

• providing more certainty to network operators regarding their ability to maintain fibre infrastructure installed on private property

• establishing an expanded and accessible disputes resolution process to ensure that land access disputes can be resolved quickly and fairly.

They look like useful proposals, which should be implemented.

TUANZ have said:

TUANZ also strongly supports the proposal to investigate a new statutory right of access which would enable fibre companies to utilise existing assets, even when those existing assets traverse private land. “We see this as being key to extending fibre further especially into rural New Zealand as it significantly reduces the cost of build which is a key barrier in improving rural connectivity” said Mr Young.

One shouldn’t need permission from neighbours to install fibre, any more than to install water or electricity.