Q: What exactly is Project Probe?
A: Probe stands for Provincial Broadband Extension, and perhaps the first thing to make clear is that Probe is not a technology or a service. There will be no ‘Probe’ branded solutions, transmission towers or cable laid.

So what is it? In essence Probe is a government initiative to ensure the broadband gap between rural and urban New Zealand doesn’t get any wider. The Government understands that while numerous broadband providers (cable, wireless, ADSL, satellite etc) are scrambling to offer services in city centres – where there are thousands of potential business customers – in rural New Zealand that isn’t the case.

Left purely to market forces, says the Government, broadband suppliers will be unlikely to invest in developing an infrastructure beyond the big cities, and rural New Zealand will likely be left in the broadband dust. This to the detriment of our agricultural sector, which is still the mainstay of the country’s economy.

With that in mind the Government has divided the country into 14 regions, and is currently allocating funding to service providers that it thinks are best placed to provide a service in each of those regions. Supplier contracts with schools and hospitals are also part of the package, which the Government says will go some way to reducing the commercial risks for broadband providers (there are over 160 schools in the Auckland region for example). In terms of completion dates, the Government expects Probe-driven broadband services to be operating by November 2004.

Q: Who are all the providers?
A: There are actually only four providers (see table below) involved in the Probe initiative – and they are only offering two types of technology – wireless and fibre cable. Aside from Auckland, wireless will be the only Probe solution nationally, albeit provided by a number of different organisations. Understanding who’s who and who does what can be a challenge, but it gets easier when you realise that many of the names relate to the same service – just sold by different people.

January 2004

Service Name

Provider Explanation

Probe Regions Assigned

Woosh

Wireless

Woosh is the brand name for Walker Wireless’ radiobased wireless broadband service. Walker Wireless and Vodafone are working together on their offering, with Vodafone bringing marketing and distribution channel services to the mix. While Woosh is currently retailing its service in Auckland, whether both or only one partner will ultimately retail the service nationally is not yet clear.

Northland
Wairarapa Canterbury Southland

Telecom Wireless

Wireless

Telecom Wireless is the brand name for BCL’s radiobased wireless broadband service, which it has in turn branded ‘Extend’. BCL and Telecom are working together on their offering, with Telecom bringing marketing and distribution channel services to the mix. Telecom will retail the service to customers.

Bay of Plenty
Waikato
Gisborne
Hawkes Bay Taranaki Manawatu Wanganui Wellington region
West Coast
                  

ThePacific.net

Wireless

ThePacific.net is an ISP based in Richmond. It is currently supplying a radio-based wireless broadband service.

Nelson Marlborough

Wired Country

Wireless & Cable

Wired Country will provide wireless and cable services to Counties Power, which will in turn sell the services on to ISPs.

Auckland

Q: Why can’t we just use JetStream?
A: It’s likely that in most of New Zealand you can. Telecom has continued to extend the JetStream footprint throughout 2003, installing boxes known as mini DSLAMs in roadside cabinets to boost the JetStream range beyond the customary five to seven kilometre radius from an exchange. It plans to have JetStream available to about 95% of New Zealanders by June 2004. In very remote locations, however, JetStream may never be an option, which is why wireless services are so important.

Q: If a Probe provider has been chosen for a region, does that mean it’ll be the only broadband service in that region?
A: Absolutely not. Many regions (such as Auckland, Canterbury and Nelson) already have several providers and there is no reason (aside from financial ones) why all providers cannot offer services around the country. For the most part the Probe initiative was set up to encourage investment, and ultimately, competition in regions less well served for broadband services.