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Posted Tue 26 August 2008 @ 5:46 a.m. by Ernie

TUANZ was privileged to be in attendance last Thursday night when Internet NZ launched the Liz Dengate Thrush foundation at a black tie dinner at the Wellington Club. A technology leader who died under tragic circumstances, Liz was deeply involved with TUANZ for a time in 2002 when we initiated our very first National Broadband Applications Project - a 230-person 2-day conference in Nelson which culminated in our publication "Survival of the Fastest." The concept of the event...

Categories: Events | Innovation

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Why can't we have a Crown Castle?

Posted Tue 26 August 2008 @ 4:58 a.m. by Ernie

Crown Castle, the independent Aussie company that owns a large chunk of that country's cell towers, has just bought another 140 of these from the Vodafone Group, according to The Line. These more remote sites add about 10% to Crown's stock of sites.Why did Vodafone Australia go into the deal?“Because it is commercially prudent for Vodafone to outsource the ownership and management of these facilities,” said CTO Andy Reeves. “Vodafone will continue to utilise each transmission site under a leasing...

Categories: Innovation | Regulatory | TUANZ policy | Vendors | Wireless carriers

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Telepresence - the case intensifies

Posted Mon 25 August 2008 @ 4:21 p.m. by Ernie

Its been a fascinating afternoon here in the Koru Club at Wellington airport. The fog settled in around midday, and no flights have been seen since. It now seems to be lifting so hopefully Sarah and I will get back to Auckland tonight - lots of TUANZ events later this week.But its interesting how people are responding. Apart from international travellers, most seem perfectly content to toddle off home with their bags and have another go in the morning. Which raises the interesting question of just...

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Broadband Investment Fund criteria to be announced

Posted Mon 25 August 2008 @ 4:11 p.m. by Sarah

Details of the Broadband Investment Fund will be announced by the Communications and Information Technology Minister David Cunliffe tomorrow morning.TUANZ was among a number of interested parties to prepare submissions on the fund, which has acquired that rather colourful acronym BIF.

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Regulatory | TUANZ policy

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Mobile statistics, Vodafone, and still more controversy

Posted Mon 25 August 2008 @ 1:14 p.m. by Ernie

Yet again the integrity of the OECD statistics on mobile pricing is under scrutiny following this article by Jenny Keown in the Independent.For years TUANZ, among others, has been highlighting the poor competitiveness of mobile phones in New Zealand. The 6-monthly releases by the OECD, compiled by Telegen, consistently used to show New Zealand having some of the world's most expensive mobile phones.Then in January of this year Vodafone NZ announced a breakthrough - claiming that its prices were now...

Categories: ISPs | Regulatory | TUANZ policy | Wireless carriers

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Digital development forum to hold first meeting

Posted Mon 25 August 2008 @ 12:56 p.m. by Ernie

The Digital Development Forum - the wider consultative body established in tandem with the Digital Development Council - is to hold its inaugural meeting next month. Organisations with a strong interest in IT from either a business or community perspective are invited to attend.TUANZ is represented on the Digital Development Council, the sibling body of the Forum. The Council was established in May of this year. Both the Council and Forum are "associations of associations" seeking to compliment,...

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Ruth Richardson’s rotary carousel projector

Posted Sun 24 August 2008 @ 9:45 p.m. by Sarah

The other night Ernie attended the book launch of Connecting The Clouds; The Internet in New Zealand by Keith Newman and the next day he gave me the TUANZ copy for review on the blog. At just over 700 pages, I could see there was a danger of a serious work/life imbalance if I read the entire book from cover to cover this weekend, so instead I decided to open it up at random and read the first section that caught my eye for discussion on the blog. Which is how I came across the following vignette...

Categories: Events | Fixed line carriers | Light relief | Regulatory

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Mobile -something absolutely stinks!

Posted Tue 19 August 2008 @ 8:08 p.m. by Ernie

It does, and its right up your nose! At 6.15 this morning I left home to attend the TUANZ After 5s Breakfast hosted by Agile. Bleary eyed in the dark I put a bag of household rubbish in the boot to drop off at the bottom of the drive, then promptly forgot about it. My car was not a nice environment by 7pm!That's a true tale, but it wasn't what I meant to blog about. Far more seriously, something smells equally bad in mobile telephony. John Drinnan's piece in today's Herald sums it...

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Digital Strategy 2.0 to be released on TUANZ Telecommunications Day

Posted Mon 18 August 2008 @ 12:59 p.m. by Ernie

The government has signalled late August as the release date for Digital Strategy 2.0. I'm informed it will happen on TUANZ Telecommunications Day 2 on Thursday week. Given the electoral cycle there will be more than passing interest in the outcome. TUANZ recently put our wish list in this article in Computerworld. We want to see a vision — a medium to long-term vision for New Zealand’s economy, a statement of how digital technology will help to lead us there, and a timeline....

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TelstraClear coming back

Posted Sun 17 August 2008 @ 8:13 p.m. by Ernie

Subtly but solidly, TelstraClear seems to be coming back. I for one had despaired at times. TelstraClear has always been strategically a very important player in the market from the user perspective. Yet for years it seemed to go down cul-de-sacs and make little progress. Recently I saw a direct mail piece it has been distributing to customers it's lost in recent times – an exceptionally well constructed set of arguments to come back. And its current TV campaign listing...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | ISPs

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Cunliffe and Williamson to square off!

Posted Sun 17 August 2008 @ 6:00 p.m. by Ernie

Its election time - the signs are all around us! Telecommunications moved to centre stage the moment John Key announced that National will spend $1.5 billion alongside the private sector to deliver ultra-fast broadband. Yahoo! In the communications sector, politicians have taken the gloves off already, with most speeches containing at least a barb aimed at the opposing party and sometimes an outright attack. For Labour, David Cunliffe carries the battle pretty much alone, whist for National the...

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Conferences and panels galore!

Posted Sun 17 August 2008 @ 5:35 p.m. by Ernie

I think I’m over conferences for now!! The week before last I spent the full 5 days at the APAN (Asia Pacific Advanced Networks) conference in Queenstown. Then this week I took part for a day each in the American Chamber of Commerce “Digital Future Now” event, and the Council for Infrastructure Development annual “Building Nations” symposium. I won’t say more about APAN as I’ve already blogged on it and nobody much is going to say “poor fellow” about my having to spend a week in Queenstown in the...

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Natiional digital architecture needed

Posted Sun 17 August 2008 @ 5:12 p.m. by Ernie

New Zealand needs a national digital architecture – an umbrella high level plan that sets some fundamental guidelines for the future. TUANZ first called for this in our “Manifesto” document “Towards Leading-Edge Connectivity” which we released in March. A key question surrounds the matter of technological neutrality. Neutrality has long been a plank of telecommunications regulation. However, where public money is involved it is important to have a common high-level view as to which technologies...

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Mobile Virtual Network Operators – how much longer to wait?

Posted Thu 14 August 2008 @ 5:41 p.m. by Sarah

At TUANZ we’re knee-deep in researching our responses to Commerce Commission papers and submissions on how to create a more equitable mobile market. There’s the next round on Mobile Co-Location due next week, and then a substantive submission on Mobile Termination due next month.All of which has reminded me of that old chestnut; the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNOs)* deals with Vodafone. That’s when another company can effectively resell the mobile product under their own brand – obviously...

Categories: Regulatory | Wireless carriers

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Sky TV and Fibre to the Home

Posted Thu 14 August 2008 @ 5:34 p.m. by Sarah

One of the key drivers for Fibre to the Home (FttH) is the ability to sell triple-play services which include IPTV. A hundred channels of streaming video down the big fat pipe and straight into the punter’s living room. Sounds like a good business case for fibre-optic, but one of the stumbling blocks is the fact that in New Zealand Sky TV has such a strong market presence. It’s hard to convince customers to move to another technology, and, in the case of a high-end development, developers probably...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | Vendors

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GPON vs Point to Point

Posted Wed 13 August 2008 @ 8:59 p.m. by Sarah

OK, so this blog’s for the fibre geeks. What’s the difference between GEPON and GPON fibre networks and Active Ethernet or Point to Point? It’s a question that’s intrigued me for some time and the other day I put in a call to John Nixon to see if I could get an answer. Those of you who remember Topics may recall an article by Anthony Doesburg about a couple of housing developments in which a certain John Nixon was planning to offer Fibre to the Home (FttH). With no business case to speak of but...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | Vendors

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One future, two disconnected visions, and potential disaster

Posted Fri 8 August 2008 @ 8:14 a.m. by Ernie

I guess this blog posting has been a while in the making, but these past few days at APAN in Queenstown have seen me injected into some intensely interesting sessions and conversations both within and outside the conference. And I'm alarmed.APAN is a conference of diverse user stakeholders in telecommunications from across the Asia Pacific region and beyond. I'd guess there are around 250 overseas people here and 100 locals - scientists, academics, engineers, policy specialists, regional...

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Innovation Awards on the verge of selling out

Posted Wed 6 August 2008 @ 8:57 a.m. by Sarah

If you’re planning on attending the TUANZ Innovation Awards on Thursday 28 August and you haven't booked, you need to do so soon - the event has almost sold out. Thirteen contested awards, plus the prestigious Chairman’s Award, will be given out on the night. This year the black tie dinner will be held at The Dome, at the Auckland Museum. You can register here. And view the finalists here. On the afternoon of the Awards, TUANZ is running a special Telecommunications Day...

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Too much latency can ruin your drumming

Posted Tue 5 August 2008 @ 2:06 p.m. by Ernie

I'm having an interesting time this week, along with TUANZ Chairman Chris O'Connell, attending the Asia Pacific Advanced Networks conference in Queenstown. Its filling a gap in my knowledge about how the research people use advanced networks and what the expectations are in the years ahead. There are around 330 people here, mostly international, with the event hosted by KAREN, the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network.A stirring powhiri aside, this morning's highlight was a wonderful presentation...

Categories: Education | Events | Innovation | ISPs

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Open Access Broadband in Auckland – ARBA Report

Posted Tue 5 August 2008 @ 11:08 a.m. by Sarah

What an interesting report the Auckland Regional Broadband Advisory released yesterday. It was accompanied by a press release which stated that Auckland households are willing to pay $95 a month for high-speed broadband services. Well done ARBA for commissioning the research that shows users are prepared to pay a fair amount for the kind of triple-play services that can only be delivered via a FTTx network. Other highlights in the report are in italics below:Apart from several...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Regulatory | Vendors | Wireless carriers

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O18 charges increase for business users

Posted Mon 4 August 2008 @ 11:56 a.m. by Sarah

Happened to notice in the public notices in the NZ Herald this weekend that the 018 charge for business users is rising from 50c to 80c – a 60 per cent increase. This will apply from 1 September 2008 for Telecom business landline accounts and doesn’t affect 018 calls from Telecom mobile phones. The notice explains that the Yellow Pages Group is increasing the 018 Directory Assistance Service charge for business users and Telecom is passing the cost on to its customers. I guess at first glance 80c...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Vendors

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Roaming charges - strong message given to mobile operators

Posted Tue 29 July 2008 @ 12:58 p.m. by Ernie

Strong heat is being applied to mobile phone companies in Europe and many other parts of the world over excessive charges for roaming and termination charges. Users are often the victim, with some extraordinary stories of "bill shock" for users who unwittingly used their mobile phones overseas with no idea of the likely cost.Nick White reports that at the end of a recent Westminster eForum on mobile termination rates and roaming charges where he spoke as Executive Vice Chairman...

Categories: Regulatory | TUANZ policy | Wireless carriers

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"Connected Nation" makes the Wall St Journal

Posted Tue 29 July 2008 @ 12:40 p.m. by Ernie

A highlight of the TUANZ Rural Broadband Symposium at Rotorua last month was the inspirational keynote by Dr Mark McElroy, Chief Operating Officer of Connected Nation. This Washington-based entity started life on a more modest scale as "Connect Kentucky."Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal article is a concise summary of Connected Nation’s mission and its success. The rationale for the programme is neatly summed up - "Kentucky's plans to use the Internet to improve education and health care couldn't...

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2008 Innovation Awards finalists announced

Posted Tue 29 July 2008 @ 7:44 a.m. by Sarah

The finalists for the 2008 Innovation Awards have been announced, they are as follows: Initiative of the Year 2008 - sponsored by Voco* BayCity Communications* Kiwibank* Orcon/Nokia Siemens* TracMap NZ Limited* TracPlus Global Limited Mobile Application of the Year - sponsored by Motorola* Altaine Ltd* Kiwibank* TracMap NZ Limited Education Award - sponsored by Tyco Electronics* Farmside* Hawkes Bay DHB* King's College* National...

Categories: Education | Events | Innovation | Vendors

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PGG Wrightson’s Uruguay venture – a case for fibre to the farm?

Posted Mon 28 July 2008 @ 3:30 p.m. by Sarah

If I have one regret about the recent Rural Broadband Symposium, it’s that we didn’t convince anyone from PGG Wrightson to speak about NZ Farming Systems Uruguay (NZFSU). I’ve been following the venutre ever since a kind person sent me a copy of Craig Norgate’s presentation at the 20/20 Conference last year. Then, in the weekend I saw a Country Calendar item about it on TV1. As I understand it, NZFSU is a subsidiary of PGG Wrightson which has been listed on the NZX. The capital from the share...

Categories: Events | Fixed line carriers | Innovation

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