Telecommunications companies Vodafone and Vocus are promising a bigger, brighter broadband service when the national high speed fibre fibre network is deregulated in two years.
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The pair plan to invest tens of millions of dollars to develop faster and more specialised broadband services, which they say will 'unbundle' the network that has been built by Chorus and three other regional broadband companies.
The network operators will have to allow third parties, such as Vodafone and Vocus, access to their fibre to provide their own wholesale services.
Vocus operates the Slingshot and Orcon broadband services.
Vodafone chief executive Russell Stanners said the joint venture would invest in superior technology, which would allow the companies to offer from a much greater range of products.
"What this will allows you to do is you can now start to competing on product, so you'll see lots of innovation and choice around product, which is what consumers would expect - they expect to have all these different options to choose from," Mr Stanners said.
He said this would mean being able to offer specially tailored packages to groups such as gamers, students, and businesses to suit their needs.
InternetNZ said the Vodafone-Vocus venture would help bring more innovation, better services and better prices for consumers.
"Unbundling has worked for New Zealand before, and we see the potential for it to lead to more choice and more competition on fibre too," InternetNZ chief executive Jordan Carter said.
He said it would be up to the companies to prioritise meeting and negotiating suitable commercial arrangements.
