By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON, New Zealand--New Zealand is going ahead with plans
to auction off radio spectrum ear-marked for fourth generation
mobile networks despite indigenous Maori tribes continuing to
assert their ownership of the radio waves.
Amy Adams, government minister responsible for technology, said
Wednesday that an auction was scheduled to start on Oct. 29. A
reserve price of 22 million New Zealand dollars (US$17 million)
will be set for each of the nine lots of spectrum up for
auction.
"In setting the reserve price, we have balanced generating a
fair return on the sale of the spectrum rights with the significant
investment required by mobile network operators to build the 4G
network infrastructure," Ms. Adams said.
The auction has been marred in controversy.
According to Maori, the government doesn't have the authority to
auction off spectrum because Britain guaranteed the rights of
unspecified national resources to New Zealand's first people in a
landmark 173-year-old treaty, the Treaty of Waitangi. Maori say
that makes the spectrum their rightful property, even though the
pact predates the invention of the radio by several decades.
The case is currently before the Waitangi Tribunal, a commission
that deals with grievances raised by the indigenous Maori
population, and although no decision has been made or any time
frame given for the case to be heard, the government has opted to
proceed with the auction. Ms. Adams has previously said she didn't
believe Maori had rights to the spectrum under the treaty.
The auction has been keenly anticipated by the market, with only
limited 4G services currently available. Major players Vodafone New
Zealand, a subsidiary of U.K.-based Vodafone Group. (VOD.LN), and
Telecom New Zealand Ltd. (TEL.NZ)--both of which do offer 4G
services already--have confirmed they will participate in the
auction. The auction is expected to provide sufficient spectrum so
that at least 90% of New Zealanders will have access to the network
and faster broadband within five years.
Successful bidders will have five years in which to pay for
their spectrum under a plan to encourage new and non-cellular
operators to participate in the auction. However, bidders who
acquire three or more lots must build at least five new cell sites
a year over a five-year period, a government release says.
Due to New Zealand's hilly terrain and small, scattered
population there are areas in the country that don't have access to
a cellular phone service or anything but dial-up internet. The
government has committed to improving this, launching a rural
broadband initiative during its previous term.
Write to Lucy Craymer at lucy.craymer@wsj.com
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