TUANZ - Telecomunications Users Association Of New Zealand

TUANZ - Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand

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Posted Sat 6 March 2010 @ 6:56 p.m. by Ernie

Usually you're safe from a Bird on a Wire unless you're directly underneath, but Theresa Gattung seems to be endangering everyone within a 360 degree trajectory.Media this weekend have reviewed various chapters. Its frustrating to see the book unveiled chapter by chapter but I guess its a part of the marketing mix - I'm told that media are expected to pay for the right to review a chapter. So maybe we're seeing the more sensational material in advance.According to the Herald she's slated the...

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Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - InternetNZ puts pressure on!

Posted Thu 4 March 2010 @ 8:19 p.m. by Ernie

Really interesting move the last couple of days.The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has been the elephant in the room while various governments have been working through Copyright issues, and especially Internet piracy. Despite the softer stance our government has taken on the infamous Section 92a, if New Zealand signs ACTA there is a risk the government might have to revert to draconian laws again.And the debate world-wide around ACTA has been held in conditions of surprising secrecy, attracting...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | TUANZ policy | Wireless carriers

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Fibre responses lodged

Posted Tue 2 February 2010 @ 8:57 p.m. by Ernie

Friday last marked a huge milestone in New Zealand's telecommunications journey. Invitations to Participate in the government's $1.5 billion ultra fast broadband initiative closed.The Proposals themselves will remain under wraps for a while, but some of the participants have issued statements outlining what they have put forward. Rather than repeat what has already been covered in the media, here are links. PARTICIPANTS' MEDIA RELEASESRegional Fibre GroupTelecomVectorMEDIA COVERAGEComputerworld...

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European business users press for more regulatory attention

Posted Tue 2 February 2010 @ 2:48 a.m. by Ernie

INTUG, the International Telecommunications Users Group of which TUANZ is an active member, has for some time been pressing the European Commission to recognise the fundamentally different character of business user markets from consumer markets. The difference in needs is especially apparent in the EU because of the pan-European character of commerce, and the strong presence of head offices of multi national corporations who desire to purchase their telecommunications on a European-wide or...

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

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XT - more progress!

Posted Fri 29 January 2010 @ 9:03 p.m. by Ernie

Here's the latest update from Telecom at 7.30pm Friday:"Telecom advises that there are currently 23 XT mobile sites without service, out of a total of about 1000 sites nationwide. The remaining affected sites are all in the lower South Island, including Timaru, Invercargill, Dunedin and Queenstown, and a number of sites across rural Southland, Otago and South Canterbury. The sites most recently restored are in Dunedin. Telecom CEO, Paul Reynolds, said he was hopeful that remaining sites will...

Categories: ISPs | Wireless carriers

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Fibre Friday!

Posted Fri 29 January 2010 @ 10:52 a.m. by Ernie

Today’s the day – proposals to partner with the government for the national urban Ultra Fast Broadband project close. There’s a huge flurry of activity. If you’re having trouble getting hold of anyone in the industry, chance are they’re putting the final touches to a proposal. Once details are released, the $1.5 million question will be answered – will there be enough proposals, with a suitable geographic scatter, to enable the government to meet its objectives? My bet is yes – there won’t...

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Paying by the bit - "as others see us"

Posted Mon 25 January 2010 @ 8:00 a.m. by Ernie

As local connectedness continues to improve, attention this year will surely focus more on the most important of all telecommunications bottlenecks - international connectivity.Dennis Veihland of TUANZ member Massey University drew my attention to this article by Steve McCabe, a recent arrival in NZ with his family, who bemoans the unfamiliar world of data caps and the unpleasant contrast with his homeland USA.How important are data caps to you? What should TUANZ be doing to resolve the issue? Post...

Categories: Broadband | Fixed line carriers | ISPs | TUANZ policy

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IPv6 hotting up again

Posted Fri 22 January 2010 @ 2:44 p.m. by Ernie

NZ's IPv6 Task Force has today underlined a call from major international organisations for an accelleration of the transition to IPv6. There is no doubt IPv6 should be on every CIO's agenda. The only question is around timing. With every call to action, the deadline gets closer.Back in September I posted a report for TUANZ members about a session on this topic at the APECtel meeting that month. From that meeting I distilled a list of actions that TUANZ members should be taking now. They still...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Wireless carriers

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A great start for the new year

Posted Thu 21 January 2010 @ 12:18 p.m. by Ernie

I’m back! I’ve been out of the office, and New Zealand, for over 6 weeks – the longest time away I’ve had in my career. Spent most of it chilling out in an apartment in Barcelona. Just living the local lifestyle - though we tended to keep the lid on the red wine bottle until lunchtime rather than join the diehard locals in sipping over breakfast. It was great to get the re-charge. It left me with several strong conclusions, some of which are about telecommunications but most in a wider context: We...

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Posted Fri 18 December 2009 @ 9:56 p.m. by Ernie

I'm not about to heap praise on anyone, regardless of political persuasion, for the progress announced this week over Section 92a. The cross-party support last year for an undemocratic and unworkable piece of legislation showed the whole of parliament in a poor light. About the only politician to emerge with a shred of credit was Maurice Williamson who, with the characteristic candour that has got him into so much trouble over the years, had the good grace to admit after the event that he didn’t...

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Rural Broadband Symposium - proceedings now available

Posted Sun 13 December 2009 @ 7:21 p.m. by Ernie

A comprehensive summary of the TUANZ Rural Broadband Symposium in association with Alcatel Lucent, written by Louis van Wyk, is now available on the "User News" section of this site. No password required.It was a ground-breaking event which will reverberate for many years. I'm looking forward to getting together with Federated Farmers in the new year to decide a next step.

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Telecom fined for misleading advertising

Posted Wed 9 December 2009 @ 10:08 p.m. by Ernie

Telecom's been fined $500k for misleading advertising,The ComCom fine of a cool half million sounds a lot. Yet the Commission had to do it. Telecom was clearly wrong and admitted the offence.Telecoms Ralph Braham says in essence, they got it wrong but have learned.I believe him. There was a wild west phase in broadband advertising. Everyone overstated their services. It was inexcusable, especially in a service that the customer cannot easily test for themselves. But it was in the heat of an...

Categories: Broadband | Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Wireless carriers

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ECTA, and Net Neutrality (Traffic Prioritisation)

Posted Tue 8 December 2009 @ 9:09 p.m. by Ernie

’m at the ECTA annual regulatory conference here in Brussels. Yesterday was a workshop day, and in the afternoon I attended an interesting and insightful session on net neutrality/network management. It was sub-titled “Policy Issues for the Future of Net-Based Service Provision.” There were eight panellists, all with a different perspective to offer. But I found two in particular, useful to my understanding of the issues. At one end of the spectrum, so to speak, was the peripatetic Richard Feasey,...

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Paul Budde has it wrong!

Posted Thu 3 December 2009 @ 11:19 a.m. by Ernie

I usually look forward to Paul Budde's annual foray into NZ. But his scathing criticism of the government's Ultra Fast Broadband plans during his Roundtable this week and in subsequent media comments have left me, and TUANZ Chairman Chris O'Connell who attended in Wellington, perplexed and disappointed.Rob O'Neill has summarised Budde's views in today's Computerworld. The criticism of Minister Joyce and the Ultra Fast Broadband process is extravagant - "totally ridiculous" and "asking...

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Vector removes data caps for fibre customers

Posted Fri 27 November 2009 @ 11:07 a.m. by Louis

Business users can now get unlimited data traffic on VectorFibre’s new InterNet service – at speeds of up to 100 Mbps and for a flat monthly fee. This means customers don’t have to give an estimate of their expected data demand for the month, says Vector chief executive Simon Mackenzie. “This is a critical departure from traditional telecommunications industry practice where customers need to provide advance notice to their ISPs of their expected data requirements for the month. “As our fibre...

Categories: Broadband | Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Vendors

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Orcon zero rates YouTube

Posted Tue 24 November 2009 @ 10:06 a.m. by Louis

Orcon will be zero rating all YouTube traffic for the next two months. The company already does not count browsing to or content streaming from local sites such as TVNZ and George FM towards a customer’s monthly data cap, and until the end of January 2010, YouTube will get the same treatment. The move comes as Telecom started selling the much-anticipated Tivo personal video recorder for the first time in New Zealand earlier this month. As part of the deal, Telecom broadband customers can download...

Categories: Broadband | Fixed line carriers | ISPs

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Rural broadband symposium - Reflections on Day 1

Posted Fri 13 November 2009 @ 9:38 a.m. by Ernie

Yesterday was the first day of the Rural Broadband Symposium that TUANZ is running alongside Federated Farmers. It was a very stimulating day with some excellent speakers and a real buzz of anticipation around the prospect of a connected rural hinterland. Louis is preparing a comprehensive summary report. Meanwhile here were my three take-away recurring themes from the first day: Theme 1 – the Government’s Rural Broadband Plan • the concept is right• ...

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ComCom monitoring shows a stellar year for competition

Posted Fri 13 November 2009 @ 9:06 a.m. by Ernie

The Commerce Commission is producing really high quality market monitoring reports these days, based in part on the regular OECD benchmarks but adjusting for specific New Zealand characteristics. The Monitoring report it released yesterday is very heartening from a user perspective. While we’re still a long way from the TUANZ vision of “Top Ten in the OECD for Communications Technology” we’re moving fast in the right direction. Please scan the whole report. Here’s some of what you’ll...

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ComCom takes Telecom to court over loyalty deal

Posted Fri 6 November 2009 @ 9:30 a.m. by Louis

The Commerce Commission has just announced it is issuing legal proceedings over loyalty offers made by Telecom’s Wholesale business unit. The proceedings will allege that three separate loyalty offers made by Telecom Wholesale between December 2008 and July 2009 are likely to have breached the unit’s obligation not to discriminate between service providers under the Telecom Separation Undertakings. In a statement released this morning the Commission says it considers that “breaches of Telecom’s...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Regulatory

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Build it and they will break it*

Posted Wed 28 October 2009 @ 3:09 p.m. by Louis

As a follow on from yesterday’s blog about the increase in broadband uptake in New Zealand, here’s a story from the Philippines that shows what could happen if telcos suddenly stop throttling demand for a service with high prices. The Philippines’ second largest telco Globe Telecom reports its mobile network was overwhelmed by a surge in new subscribers after the company lowered the price for its mobile broadband modem. The company more than halved the price of its Globe Broadband Tattoo stick...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | TUANZ policy | Wireless carriers

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Broadband subscribers hit a million; 400k still languish on dial-up

Posted Tue 27 October 2009 @ 6:05 p.m. by Louis

New Zealand now boasts over a million broadband subscribers. However, more than 400,000 internet users still rely on dial-up connections. According to Statistics New Zealand’s latest ISP Survey, there were 1.13 million broadband subscribers in New Zealand as at the end of June – an increase of 27% compared to 15 months earlier when the last survey was conducted in March 2008. This means broadband subscribers now make up nearly three-quarters of New Zealand’s total of 1,565,100 internet subscribers....

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | TUANZ policy

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NZ regulatory experiences help inform US regulator

Posted Fri 23 October 2009 @ 2:45 p.m. by Louis

New Zealand features in a report to US telecommunications regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as an example on the benefits of unbundling and operational separation of an incumbent carrier. The report, entitled “Next Generation Connectivity: A review of broadband Internet transitions and policy from around the world”, includes a comparative study of internet services in 30 OECD countries and was prepared by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society for the...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Regulatory | TUANZ policy

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David Stone to lead Telecommunications Carriers Forum

Posted Wed 21 October 2009 @ 8:25 p.m. by Ernie

Vodafone NZ's Industry Affairs Manager david Stone has been appointed to lead the TCF, following the departure of Ralph Chivers earlier in the year.Full details on the TCF site here.I've worked with David in his role representing Vodafone on the TCF Board for a couple of years and in my books he's an excellent choice. The TCF will continue to gain in stature and effectiveness under his leadership.

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Wireless carriers

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Posted Wed 21 October 2009 @ 8:54 a.m. by Ernie

INTUG, the International Telecommunications Users Group,has alerted members this morning to the latest development in the attempts by the EC to develop a regulatory framework on illegal downloading of copyright material. (TUANZ's latest pronouncement on this is here.)Nick White, Executive VP of INTUG, says:"Agreement on the European Regulatory Framework review has been held up because of disagreement between the Council and Parliament. "Following an expected rejection of the second reading next...

Categories: Education | Fixed line carriers | Innovation | ISPs | TUANZ policy

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"Its All Telecom's Fault" - Vodafone

Posted Thu 15 October 2009 @ 9:17 a.m. by Ernie

Do you believe that in 2009 a new business in Auckland’s Vulcan Lane – the heart of the CBD linking Queen and High Streets – can’t get DSL? From anyone?No? Neither do I. But Vodafone does. And Vodafone says its all Telecom’s fault. Earlier this week I had a frantic email from the owner of a new retail store about to open right there in the absolute hub of the city. He’d gone to Vodafone to get DSL and received the following message: “Dear (customer)We've discovered you're unable to get Vodafone...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs

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