I retired from personal blogging in July 2008.
But you can find me over at http://blog.xero.com.
Communications Minister David Cunliffe’s address to the 8th Annual Telecommunications and ICT Summit
in Auckland this morning had an interesting softening of language ….
So, the government remains optimistic that competitive pressures, combined
with a balanced and prudent approach to policy settings, will see total
telecommunications investment increase, not decrease, over the next few years.Will there be gaps in the marketplace? Yes, I don’t mind betting there will
be. Does this mean there may be a need for government investment? Possibly.
But we need to be very judicious about this.It is not the business of government to crowd out private investment. These
are big issues. They are billion dollar bets and we risk putting the cost on
the taxpayer if we are injudicious about our approach.I do not want anybody to think that means the government is not sensitive to
these issues and that it will not do more for all New Zealanders,
particularly rural New Zealanders.But what this government will not do is act with undue haste, or imprudently
disguise underlying market failures, before the appropriate commercial
realities are clear and all the options have been carefully analysed.As minister, I am not afraid of tough calls. But I also believe in getting
the best data and analysis to ensure that they are the right calls - not
just the temporarily expedient ones.
I believe Cunliffe has done a good job of respecting the process. But I also believe he understands the business case for the people of New Zealand to invest in some parts of the network. If I am correct in this belief then the language of this speech is consistent with that.
There is not doubt that the Digital Summit in October is setting itself up as an important time for our industry.
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