Telecommunication companies wanting to work with the government to roll out high-speed internet access across the country will be able to start submitting information for the tender process next week.

Trevor Mallard outlined details of the broadband initiatives to the Correspondence School Conference in Wellington today. He said while the initiative was focused around schools – the flow on effects to communities in rural New Zealand would be significant.

“In is likely to open up a whole new world of opportunity for many of your families,” Trevor Mallard said.

“The broadband initiative is a major education commitment announced in this year’s Budget. We recognise that ICT is not only a desirable addition to a school – but an essential learning tool. Because of that we have committed tens of millions of dollars to work with telecommunication companies on regional-based initiatives to give rural and provincial schools the same kind of internet access as city schools. As part of the tender process, consideration will be given to what percentage of a region’s population a proposal will cover.

Trevor Mallard said an RFI (Request for Information) will be released next week seeking budgetary pricing from potential suppliers to provide broadband access to all schools within a designated broadband region that currently do not have a minimum access rate of 512kbps.

Responses to the RFI will close on Monday 26 August and these will then be evaluated to determine a shortlist of tenderers who will be asked to respond to an RFP (Request for Proposal) for a particular region.

“Work done by the 5 pilot regions under the Government funded Regional Broadband Initiatives concluded that a strong regional approach should be taken. The country has therefore been divided into 14 broadband regions - each will be contested separately,” Trevor Mallard said.