Telecom And Bcl Reach Significant Broadband Agreement
Telecom today announced it has signed an agreement with Broadcast Communications Limited (BCL) that enables Telecom to
provide a range of wireless broadband services to rural and provincial customers who are currently beyond the reach of
Telecom’s ADSL JetStream service. The agreement is conditional on BCL confirming arrangements with its technology
supplier, which it is confident of concluding by the end of January.
The wireless services will be provided on an open access wholesale network to be built and owned by BCL. Telecom will
retail these services once the network is commissioned, scheduled for late October this year.
The BCL wireless network and additional developments to the Telecom network are expected to bring broadband within the
reach of 95% of Telecom customers by the commissioning date.
The percentage of Telecom customers able to access broadband services has grown from 66% in February 2002 to a predicted
83% in February 2003. The number of customers using JetStream has doubled in the same period.
Telecom and BCL will consider developing their networks to extend coverage as demand and economics warrant.