"In June, we are rolling broadband out in New Zealand," Mine says. "And it is a mixed story: New Zealand is very far behind from an OECD perspective, but it is also true that Telecom more than doubled broadband penetration last year. So the right kind of activity is going on.

"But, does penetration need to be a lot higher? Of course is does. Should the [broadband] speed be higher? Absolutely," she continues.

In Australia, Alcatel is hoping for a shift in the regulatory environment which would allow the company to build a network with its short-term partner, Telstra, providing a 12Mbit/s broadband service to Australians.

Broadband is a very important issue for both New Zealand and Australia, says Mine, and not just from a personal entertainment perspective.

"Areas like e-health and telecommuting; things like trying to keep emissions down over time, and quality of life, these are huge issues for people."