Thanks to LLU

Congratulations on the increased competition brought about by LLU, now Whangarei residents are to get 10Mbit/s symmetrical service from $20/month. (Hattip: ComputerWorld)

Of course this breakthrough is actually nothing to do with LLU - how does LLU have anything to do with the provision of a new Wireless ISP? And that is the point.
LLU was not only a confiscation of private property rights, but it was an entirely unnecessary one. Telecom's main competitor, Vodafone, doesn't even have a fixed line business. So yeah - unbundling the copper loop is really necessary for competition.
There is already fiber based competition in those areas that actually warrant competition, even the likes of developments in Manakau are being trialled with fiber to the home deployments. Why is it that it is up to Telecom to perform all this infrastructure? Because the other Telco's can see that they can just sit back and be able to wait and use it - they have seen that there actually isn't the amount of price gouging going on that is claimed, and they might as well let someone else take the capital risk of investment when they will be able to use it just as if they had made the investment.
And then if Telecom makes the wrong call in the eyes of history, then the "new" players will blow them out of the water by investing in alternative routes.

Like Wi-Max.

Progressive Ideology

From the NZ Herald: (As spotted on Kiwiblog)

The only party that did not spend election money illegally, the Progressives, says it was not hard to keep within the rules during the last campaign. And when it was unsure, it asked the office of the Auditor-General himself, Kevin Brady. Former list MP Matt Robson, who could perhaps still be in Parliament if the Progressives had dipped into leader Jim Anderton's parliamentary budget, said "there was no ambiguity"

As much as I dislike the actual policies of Jim Anderton - this just helps to reinforce my belief that he is one of the only remaining parliamentarians who actually stands by his principles.
Good on you Jim - now all that remains is for you to pull support from any party who is too corrupt or stupid to follow the same guidelines you did...