Wellington, Oct 5 NZPA - The Government is seeking tenders for seven pilot projects to develop techniques to deploy fibre, as part of the introduction of broadband throughout the country.

Proposals were sought for seven pilots, for techniques including trenching and drilling, expected to begin before Christmas.

The Deployment Standards Initiative is being run by the Ministry of Economic Development, Crown Fibre Holdings, and the Digital Auckland Working Party. The project is running alongside the Ultra-Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband Initiatives as part of the roll-out of broadband infrastructure.

Bidders were invited to form consortia, which could include councils, deployment technology providers and civil engineering contractors.

The standards created by the successful pilots would be incorporated into a national utilities code, with regulation status under the Utilities Access Act 2010.

Propsals are due by 5pm on October 26.