Terria confirms NBN bid without telco AAPT

In a statement, consortium chairman Michael Egan said that he regretted that AAPT would no longer be a participant in Terria.

“AAPT’s owner, Telecom NZ, is undertaking major capital investment in New Zealand and I can understand it wanting to focus on its home turf,” Egan said.

“However, its decision will not affect Terria’s bid.”

AAPT said that it had always been open about its intention not to financially support the NBN build, but remained committed to Terria’s principles.

“The decision to cease our involvement in Terria is timely for us, given the current position of the bidding process,” said AAPT CEO Paul Broad.

Mr Broad said that in recent months the public debate has been weighted too heavily on the cost of the build.

“Moving out of the ’them and us’ argument between Telstra and Terria allows AAPT to continue to share its views and maintain an independent perspective as the process unfolds,” continued Broad.

“We’ve been a keen participant during the past couple of years and our stance on the preferred outcome of the NBN build remains unchanged.”

Egan also responded to reports this week that Terria has been unable to secure appropriate lines of credit due to the financial crisis .

“We have an excellent business case and are more than confident of our ability to fund the new network,” Egan confirmed.

“Unlike Telstra, our business case does not depend on anything like the exorbitant 25 percent return which Telstra’s John Stanhope demanded on Tuesday.”

Egan added that Terria was the only potential bidder to publicly commit to making a bid.