Telecom New Zealand advances AAPT fiber network, considers demerger

Telecom New Zealand believes the best way to maintain the competitive footing of its Australian subsidiary AAPT is to upgrade its fiber network.

Paul Reynolds, Telecom New Zealand's CEO, said the fiber upgrade plans, which were initially announced last September, are designed to provide "best capacity, lowest price deployment [was] absolutely vital" so AAPT can "compete and work effectively in the National Broadband Network (NBN) world."

Providing 70 Gbps of capacity between Sydney and Melbourne and 60 Gbps between Sydney and Brisbane, the first phase of the fiber coastal upgrade project is finished. In addition, Telecom New Zealand expects to complete the build out of the inland eastern regions of the network, including Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, done by the end of the year.

Building the new fiber network is just a string of new activity taking place at Telecom New Zealand. The service provider finally sold off AAPT's consumer division to competitive provider iiNet as well as its stake in iiNet.

In separate news, Telecom New Zealand is also considering a demerger if it gets a seat on the New Zealand government's proposed broadband network initiative. Joining Vodafone and New Zealand electric distributor Vector, Telecom New Zealand is among 15 companies that have submitted bids to take part in the government's $1.1 billion nationwide fiber network.

For more:
- Bloomberg has this story
- TeleGeography covers the fiber build out here

Related articles:
Telecom New Zealand sells AAPT's consumer division, other assets
New Zealand's AAPT suitors have until end of week to finalize bids
Telecom New Zealand considers network spinoff to participate in broadband initiative
New Zealand wants help with its broadband initiative