23 Feb 2012

Fast broadband must be rolled out faster - Alcatel

7:00 am on 23 February 2012

The head of Alcatel Lucent New Zealand says rolling out fast broadband faster, with locally specific applications, is crucial to making it work for the country.

The Government is spending just under $2 billion on ultra-fast broadband and the rural broadband programme.

Alcatel Lucent has just released its latest research, indicating the two schemes will pay for themselves by adding more than $5 billion to gross domestic product over the 20 year period it will take to put them in place.

The firm's managing director Andrew Miller says savings and efficiencies could be worth $33 billion over the same period.

He says New Zealand needs to accelerate early adoption and drive the total uptake as high as possible because the sooner that's started, the sooner the country starts reaping rewards.