Wellington, July 1 NZPA - The Telecommunications Users Association (Tuanz) is commending the Government for revising the tender process for its ultra-fast broadband (UFB) network, even though it is time consuming.

Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce said today that the Invitation to Participate (ITP) for the $1.5 billion network has been revised to ensure that ultra-fast broadband will be provided at both layer one and layer two on an open access basis.

The initial ITP from the government vehicle Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH) involved only regulating layer one, the so called dark fibre or actual cable, and not layer two, which includes electronic gear.

"We believe this decision to require local fibre companies to offer open access to service at both layer one and layer two is practical and commendable," Tuanz chief executive Ernie Newman said.

He said the question of which layer would result in more competition had exercised the minds of many people for 18 months.

"Based on today's announcement, respondents to the original ITP will be invited to provide revised proposals based on the modified UFB model and regulatory regime to CFH. CFH will contact bidders about the process directly," said Mr Joyce.

Mr Newman said this should not be a significant delay to the process.

"In most cases we expect analysis will already have been done as part of the original tender."

The New Zealand Regional Fibre Group said it had long held the view that open access to layer two was necessary to drive competition and innovation but the group needed to see the detail of the change before it could properly assess it.

There has been speculation that regulation of layer two was pushed for by the Ministry of Economic Development and may not have been favoured by Treasury.

Mr Joyce said respondents to the Crown's ITP said they supported offering open access at both the passive and active fibre optic layers of the network.

Service providers who would purchase ultra-fast broadband services and sell them to consumers were particularly supportive of the move, Mr Joyce said.

"Careful consideration has been given to the issue of open access."

The Government was also changing the ITP model to "avoid burdening infant businesses investing in emerging technologies with inappropriate regulation", Mr Joyce said.