New Zealand Pacific Fibre remains committed to having a new US$400 million (NZ$500 million) fiber cable linking New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. by the end of 2013, even as it looks for ways to fund the project, the company's chief executive officer, Mark Rushworth, told Dow Jones Newswires.

New Zealand's current connection relies on just one fiber cable, the Southern Cross cable, which gives owners Telecom Corp. of New Zealand (TEL.NZ), SingTel Optus and VerizonBusiness the right to set pricing for retailers. Auckland-based, privately owned Pacific Fibre plans to challenge that position by building a 13,600 kilometer cable connecting Sydney and Auckland with the U.S.

Rushworth said the biggest challenge to meeting the end-2013 deadline was getting the necessary permits to have the cable come on shore, but that the company was already working on this.

The project suffered a serious blow earlier this year, however, when undersea cable operator Pacnet pulled out of plans to take a 50:50 share in the cable.

Rushworth said the company had appointed Australian New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ.AU), Credit Suisse Group (CS) and First NZ Capital to lead the fund raising to build the undersea cable.

"Expect financing from across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and of course the U.S. where we have existing shareholders today," Rushworth said. The company doesn't know what proportion of the overall amount would be raised through debt, but suspects it will have a gearing ratio of around 40%-45%, he added.

It is hoped new private shareholders would provide the majority of the necessary funds, Rushworth said.

-By Lucy Craymer, Dow Jones Newswires; +64-4-471-5990; lucy.craymer@dowjones.com
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