CityLink Hopes to Be Backbone for Government Shared Network
Posted on: Wednesday, 8 June 2005, 15:00 CDT
WELLINGTON telco CityLink, which is currently subject to takeover speculation, believes it stands to benefit rather than lose out from a government drive to create a shared voice and data network for government agencies.
Managing director Neil de Wit says 80 government agencies are already connected to the company's fibre optic network in Wellington and is hopeful of retaining that business.
He says CityLink's network could form the backbone of the Government Shared Network in the capital with little if any change.
The State Services Commission says the Government Shared Network will comprise a dedicated fibre optic network in Wellington that could be used by agencies to carry "restricted" government traffic and a wide area network linking agencies' branch offices nationwide.
Mr de Wit indicates CityLink is not dependent on its government client base, however, pointing out that Trade Me is also connected to its network and accounts for about half of New Zealand's web traffic.
Any move to pull government traffic from CityLink as a result of the establishment of the Government Shared Network would be ironic.
IT Minister David Cunliffe hopes to encourage the development of similar open access networks elsewhere in New Zealand and has called for better alignment between the Government's ICT procurement practices and its ICT policy.
Mr de Wit says he is unaware of any basis for speculation in an industry newsletter that listed radio network operator TeamTalk was considering buying CityLink. "Is there substance to it? Not to my knowledge. These stories pop up spasmodically."
Lower Hutt businessman and majority owner Ron Woodrow declined to comment.
Mr Cunliffe has announced that the Government will allocate $24 million to encourage the development of 15 Mush networks in other parts of the country as a key plank in its Digital Strategy.
CityLink was originally established with backing from Wellington City Council as a user-owned high-speed network and as such was an early example of a community-based "Mush" network, though all but a few of its original shareholders have since sold out.
In addition to Smartlinx3, which hopes to establish a Mush network to improve broadband links in and between Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Porirua, and Nelson's Loop fibre optic network, Mr de Wit says there are a couple of other nascent community-based initiatives which are now getting off the ground.
Though they are few and far between, he says the Mush funding could be a catalyst for more communities to build their own broadband networks. He says this could create commercial opportunities for CityLink, which also operates peering exchanges around the country where Internet traffic is exchanged between ISPs.
Source: Dominion Post
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