Government policy has played a crucial role in driving the development of broadband technology in New Zealand, but this has evidently been shaped by the interplay of different ministerial imperatives and rationales under different administrations. The Labour-led government's 2005 Digital Strategy primarily aimed at increasing consumer uptake of basic broadband to overcome the ‘digital divide’. This evolved into the more ambitious 2008 Digital Strategy 2.0 which, consistent with Labour's ‘third way’ philosophy, focused both on grassroots community engagement and economic goals (involving both the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Ministry of Economic Development). However, the election of the National-led government later in 2008 brought a shift in the principles and outcomes driving broadband policy. National's Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative has seen NZ$1.35 billion allocated to telecommunications companies that won contracts to develop a nationwide fibre-optic infrastructure. The political rationale more strongly reflects macro-economic imperatives informed primarily by the revamped Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment. This more commercial policy orientation has nevertheless led the government into some complex and contradictory positions, particularly with respect to its reluctance to insulate the UFB initiative from demands to re-regulate the media sector in response to convergence and competition issues. Taking a critical institutionalist approach and drawing on evidence from key policy documents and interview data with policy actors, this analysis outlines several policy tensions underpinning the shifts in New Zealand's telecommunications and broadband policy between 2005 and 2013.
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