The efficiency and effectiveness of a mixed public-private broadband deployment: The case of New Zealand's ultra fast broadband deployment

Abstract

Although it is widely accepted that the future telecommunications access infrastructure relies heavily on Fiber-to- the-Home (FTTH), its deployment is compromised because it requires substantial investment. As such, if the decision to go ahead with the investment is made, the partners involved should make sure the deployment and operations are performed as efficiently and effectively as possible, to ensure both economic and social viability. A deployment is efficient if achieved at minimum expense and is effective if it reaches the outlined goals. This paper analyses the impact of policy decisions affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of New Zealand's public-private partnership in charge of building up a nationwide FTTH network: the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network. The paper concludes that in the context of such type of partnership a tradeoff exists between efficiency and effectiveness. Although both concepts are well suited for assessing the performance of large scale projects such as FTTH rollouts, they are not necessarily always aligned.