Now that John Key has started talking about the Chinese bidding for the $1.5 billion ultrafast broadband plan it really seems that things may be coming unstuck. Or at the least confused.
And yesterday’s Sunday Star Times reports Steven Joyce’s acknowledgement that the government may have to dip into money set aside to build its $1.5 billion ultra-fast broadband (UFB) network to pay for further policy advice on the project. Policy advice on what?
Written questions from parliament’s Commerce Select Committee (which I sit on) to Communications Minister Steven Joyce have revealed that the appropriation for policy advice in his portfolio is under “extreme pressure”, and a transfer of up to $2 million more than the $3.7m already budgeted may be needed early in the current financial year. That $2m would come from capital set aside to pay for fibre.
In other words, the funding set aside for policy advice on the broadband initiative is not enough. Why is that? It certainly has become a lot more complicated than anticipated. Which Joyce needs to own up to now.
I”m submitting a bunch more written questions on this. But it does seem that Steven Joyce may have bitten off more than he can chew.
The SST story and previous posts by me have strongly suggested that $1.5billion isn’t going to deliver what the government has promised. Vodafone head Russell Stanners has now said publicly several times that he doubts the $1.5b set aside for the project will be enough.
The country must get broadband rolled out. Soon. And we must do it right. But what the hell is going on? And what will be the cost? And are we going to be faced with a foreign bid that undercuts other local bids, particularly on labour costs?
Steven Joyce continues to remain silent on these issues. It’s time for him, or perhaps now Key to start talking to the nation about just what the problems are and what’s being done about it.
Remember this was the government’s biggest election pledge. There’s a lot riding on it, for them and the nation.
