Kinsella on broadband

The state will end up carrying the can to roll out broadband to the furthest parts of the country. We must remember what the new public management scholars taught us to forget. The state is the only one who can do it, so the state should be the only one to do it

Of course, it’s all New Zealand’s fault. But before I explain why we should blame it on the Kiwis, we need to zoom up a few levels and think about how and why public services get delivered.

Modern societies expect services delivered to their houses and businesses as cheaply as possible. Water, gas, electricity, telephone, television, broadband, post, roads, public transport. None are free to provide. In fact, all require huge upfront investments ...