[suebeenz]

From the NZ Herald (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10415202) :



After years of controversial debate a bill regulating New Zealand's largest company -- Telecom -- passed its final stages in Parliament in just a few hours today.

Telecommunications Minister David Cunliffe said history had been made and the passage of the TelecommunicationsAmendment Bill would bring faster and better broadband service.

I thought some of the readers' comments (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&ObjectID=10415211) were interesting too. I wonder if it really will increase broadband availability in rural areas.

[DB]

I wonder if it really will increase broadband availability in rural areas.
No.

Folks in Auckland will do very well out of this, but for many of us, we're lucky that Telecom bother to provide us with a service. This is the beginning of the new digital divide, which will be entirely geographic in nature.