Spark CEO Simon Moutter says work on a subsea communication cable between Australia and New Zealand is set to begin very soon. The second optical-fibre link across the Tasman is said to make it easier for businesses to rely on cloud computing services.
Spark was supposed to lay the cable in partnership with Vodafone and Telstra in February 2013 however Telstra dropped out. With an estimated cost of $77 million it’s easy to see why! Spark may now proceed alone or with other backers.
Spark first announced its plan to lay the cable in partnership with Vodafone and Telstra in February last year, estimating it would cost about US$60 million ($77 million). But there have been rumours Telstra had cold feet and that Spark might go it alone or proceed with other backers.
According to Stuff.co.nz, Moutter said he was determined to proceed with the investment to provide the “resilience and security New Zealand will need to enable ‘a cloud future’ for big business customers in particular”.
Moutter said there had been “the odd hiccup” in terms of its intended partners getting approval for the investment and Spark might proceed with the backing of some other partners. “You wouldn’t necessarily assume the exact same group. If we can’t get the partners there, we will proceed anyway.”
Spark has also been succeeding financially. In October the company’s shares reached $3, which hadn’t happened since the 2008 financial crisis. This has been attributed to the company’s rebrand. However it could also in part be because of their dabble in Internet TV.