Megaupload Owner Proposes Revival of Pacific Fibre Cable Project; Promises Free Broadband for All Kiwis

Besides planning to open another peer-to-peer file sharing site, former Megaupload owner Kim Dotcom is proposing the revival of the Pacific Fibre cable project.

The $NZ400 million venture sought to put in place a trans-Pacific cable that would rival the existing Southern Cross cable project, majority owned by Telecom. The initial plan was to build a 12,950-kilometre fibre cable between Auckland, Sydney and Los Angeles but the proposal was ditched in August due to lack of funds.

In relaunching Pacific Fibre, which was initially backed by Trade Me founder Sam Morgan, The Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall and technology businessman Rod Drury, Mr Dotcom promised in a tweet to provide free broadband for all Kiwis.

The cable project would provide faster Internet access for Mr Dotcom's sites including a new cloud storage service that he plans to roll out in January 2013, and a new music service to be called Megabox. The new service would be based in New Zealand because of its cheap and clean energy.

However, the free access to Internet connection would only be for residences, while business and government customers would have to pay.

"I was always of the opinion that Pacific Fibre was the most important investment into the future of New Zealand to ensure its competitiveness in the online world," Computerworld quoted Mr Dotcom.

But he said the federal government of New Zealand prefers to invest more in tarmac roads which would not be that important because in the next 10 to 15 years, more people will work and shop from home, rendering tarmac roads no longer that useful.

However, Mr Drury pointed out a tiny flaw in Mr Dotcom's plan, which is he would need U.S permission to connect to the United States even as Mr Dotcom is facing extradition to the U.S. on copyright and money laundering charges.

To fund the Pacific Fibre venture, Mr Dotcom said he would raise investment from New Zealand and through his new Mega business. But he said if the money would not be sufficient, he plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government for closing his Megaupload site.