Budget 2011: $942 million for Crown fibre
The government provides the balance of funding for its $1.35 billion ultrafast broadband project.
After the Canterbury earthquake, Communications Minister Steven Joyce pledged that its 10-year, $1.35 billion* ultrafast broadband (UFB) initiative would not be trimmed.
In the budget today, the government made good on this promise, allocating $942 million to the project, completing its funding (the balance was provided in last year's budget; much of which remains unspent).
The UFB rollout is expected to cost at least three times the government's contribution, with private partners providing the majority of funding.
The budget also provided a further $28 million to connect fibre to schools.
In other IT developments, the budget allocaated Statistics NZ $58 million upgrade its IT systems over the next four year, and $27.6 million was ear-marked for "igovt" services, which include log-ons to council websites, and agency sites such as the Companies Office (ironically, off-line this afternoon).
In the broader area of research and development, total portfolio funding was trimmed $10 million to $773 million.
The government's six-year $300 million rural broadband initiative will be primarily funded through an annual levy on the telecommunications industry.
* Some of the original $1.5 billion was hived off to education-related spending
NBR staff
Thu, 19 May 2011
Thu, 19 May 2011
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Budget 2011: $942 million for Crown fibre
14699