TUANZ - Telecomunications Users Association Of New Zealand

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Draft LLU Price Decision - Well Done, Commerce Commission!

Posted Tue 31 July 2007 @ 4:46 p.m. by Ernie

The Commission's LLU price announcement this morning (see Sarah Putt's posting below) has met a positive response from TUANZ though with a slight caution around the rural issue.TUANZ's response to media has been: We were surprised to see the urban/rural segregation, but understand why the Commission has done this The urban price appears very competitive; we would expect it to give real encouragement to the competing carriers to embrace LLU The rural price is not surprising -...

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

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Commerce Commission sets draft price for LLU

Posted Tue 31 July 2007 @ 10:07 a.m. by Sarah

The Commerce Commission has just released its draft determination on the price Telecom’s competitors will pay to provide voice and broadband services using its copper network. The monthly rental charge for access to the local loop service, what the Commerce Commission terms UCLL (Unbundled Copper Local Loop) is: Urban areas: $16.49 per monthNon-urban areas: $32.20 per month The draft charge for the transfer of a customer to the UCLL service is $83.70. Co-location – that is the price other operators...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Regulatory

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Herald Readers Condemn Broadband Speeds

Posted Mon 30 July 2007 @ 7:44 a.m. by Ernie

The Herald's survey of the speeds its readers experience on broadband connections says it all - Kiwis are totally dissatisfied with the pace at which broadband is being delivered in this country.Much of the content of the article is predictable. Telecom's competitors, and to be fair TUANZ, have long-held views. The added dimension is the disconnect between readers' views and Telecom's. Perhaps the most disappointing element of the story is Telecom's response - "solutions....require hundreds...

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

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Number Administration Deed Slammed by TUANZ

Posted Mon 30 July 2007 @ 4:35 a.m. by Ernie

I make no apology for a strong condemnation of the infamous NAD that appeared last week in The Independent Financial Review and Computerworld.Whether or not the sale of New Zealand +64 phone numbers to Skype is a bad thing, the episode has shown that by international standards New Zealand's control of our numbering system is as loose as a goose. We have become about the only country where numbers are controlled by the industry rather than the government, and quite frankly the industry is not protecting...

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Top Half of OECD by 2010 "Steep but Still Do-Able" - Cunliffe

Posted Mon 30 July 2007 @ 4:15 a.m. by Ernie

David Cunliffe has reaffirmed the government's commitment to ts broadband target on breakfast TV last week. Emphasising that the government's discussions with Telecom on operational separation are "going very well," the Minister noted that what is now needed is for the private sector to stump up with major investment.TUANZ has repeatedly called for the industry, and Telecom especially, to re-invest at a pace that answers its customers' needs. Meanwhile our ranking in the OECD league table for broadband...

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

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ACCC Regulatory Conference - Not Much is New

Posted Mon 30 July 2007 @ 3:46 a.m. by Ernie

I'm fortunate to go to a lot of industry events in the course of a year which is essential at the cutting edge of such a fast moving industry. Usually I come back with a truck load of insights and ideas.Last week, the eighth annual ACCC Regulatory Conference on the Gold Coast was a bit of an exception. The stage was well set - around 500 delegates, well above previous years. Some excellent international speakers -Simon Cowan from Oxford, David Newbery from Cambridge and Roger...

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No Show Quandry

Posted Fri 27 July 2007 @ 10:49 a.m. by John

Last Thursday we held an After 5s networking event in the Auckland CBD continuing our programme of monthly networking opportunities for members of TUANZ and their guests, sponsored on this occasion by a major telecommunications supplier partnership with a compelling, topical presentation. As the start time approached we had received 86 registrations – since the room was set up for 90 we worried a bit about the inevitable go-shows (guests who do not register in advance) perhaps forcing latecomers...

Categories: Events

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New ICT degree planned for next year

Posted Thu 26 July 2007 @ 10:51 p.m. by Sarah

A four year Bachelor of Science degree in Information Assurance could be up and running next year if Chris Roberts, senior advisor at the States Services Commission, gets his way. Roberts is working closely with an unnamed university and hopes to make an announcement soon as to when, and where, the degree will be offered. In an effort to bridge the gap between industry requirements and educational courses, the degree’s programme will offer internships, workshops and visiting lecturers from industry...

Categories: Education

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Cyber Civil Defence

Posted Thu 26 July 2007 @ 10:40 p.m. by Sarah

International cybercrime is becoming more sophisticated and widespread, yet New Zealand is one of the few countries without a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT). State Services Commission senior advisor Chris Roberts says steps are being taken to form one, but it could be as far away as two years. In the meantime the Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CCIP) is plugging the gap but - as its name suggests – its mandate is limited. The CCIP’s primary concern is the protection of vital...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | ISPs | Regulatory

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Telecom axe $10 million a year in funding to NZ schools

Posted Thu 26 July 2007 @ 8:25 p.m. by Sarah

When Telecom announced its 15-year school connection programme will end in January, it effectively pulled the plug on a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal available to every school in the country. This is the programme whereby Telecom’s residential customers nominate a NZ school to receive one point for every $25 they spend each month with the telco. These points are then redeemed by schools for IT equipment and telecommunications services. I asked Ministry of Education senior consultant for...

Categories: Education | Fixed line carriers

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Does John Key think broadband will be an election issue?

Posted Tue 24 July 2007 @ 9:58 a.m. by Sarah

When National Party leader John Key travels around the country attending functions he says there are two topics he’s usually asked about. After housing affordability, the second most popular subject is telecommunications. That’s what he told me last night when I asked him whether broadband will be an election issue, in the same way it has been in Australia. So where does the National party stand in terms of government investment?, was the follow up question from Computerworld editor Rob...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Regulatory | Wireless carriers

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Macquarie TEL report for clients' eyes only

Posted Tue 24 July 2007 @ 8:24 a.m. by Sarah

Promoting investment in telecommunications infrastructure is a core reason why TUANZ exists. So when an article appeared on the Stuff website yesterday quoting extensively from a Macquarie Equities report and claiming that Vodafone is planning a massive LLU investment, Ernie suggested I find the report and blog about it. I went onto the Macquarie website and hunted fruitlessly for a copy. I then phoned Macquarie in Auckland and asked if they could send me the report. But in an email exchange with...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Regulatory

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TUANZ Innovation Awards - entries now open

Posted Thu 19 July 2007 @ 12:37 p.m. by Sarah

The annual TUANZ Innovation Awards are now open to entries. There are 14 categories which encompass a range of expertise and excellence across the telecommunications sector. The awards are either voted on by TUANZ members or judged by a panel. Categories are as follows: Initiative of the Year (J)Telecommunications Carrier of the Year (V)Internet Service Provider (ISP) of the Year (V)Technology Media of the Year (V)Mobile Application of the Year (J) Education (primary or secondary) (J)Education...

Categories: Events | Innovation

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OECD highlights NZ’s poor investment

Posted Wed 18 July 2007 @ 1:57 p.m. by Sarah

Grossly inadequate investment is the major cause of telecommunications shortcomings. That’s the conclusion reached by TUANZ after further analysis of the OECD telecommunications report published this week. “Across the developed world the sector reinvests 15.3% of revenue, but New Zealand is third lowest at just 8.7%. By comparison in Australia, Canada and the USA the industry invest around twice as much in proportion to its revenue as in New Zealand, and in Britain three times as much,” says Ernie...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | TUANZ policy | Wireless carriers

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Parliament online

Posted Wed 18 July 2007 @ 1:04 p.m. by Sarah

Parliament was streamed live over the web for the first time yesterday. But when I logged on yesterday evening I found that the user experience was poor.As I was accessing the live feed at home on the fixed network I had to settle for the low-speed broadband option where the screen was a tiny 9cm by 5cm. After the picture froze a number of times, I tried my data card to see if the feed would run smoother on the mobile network. But despite being able to access the high-speed broadband...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | Wireless carriers

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The Broadbander

Posted Tue 17 July 2007 @ 2:03 p.m. by Sarah

What’s the demographic profile of the typical broadband user? At a conference run by The Internet Bureau entitled Broadband Impact: The Future of Online Advertising, Nielsen Media Research executive director Stuart Jamieson introduced us to The Broadbander:MaleAged under 29 or between 40-59 years oldPredominantly EuropeanLives in the cityWell educated High disposable income Jamieson’s “pen picture” was gathered from statistical research that drew upon the Nielsen Panorama database of 12,000 from...

Categories: Events | Innovation

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Vector, we need you

Posted Mon 16 July 2007 @ 11:10 a.m. by Sarah

It was disappointing to read in the Herald this weekend that Vector has shelved a million-dollar investment programme that would have seen the company extend its fibre optic telecommunications networks. In Adam Bennett’s excellent article on the resignation of CEO Mark Franklin, he reports: “In fact Franklin, who otherwise declined to comment on Vector’s growth prospects, confirmed the company’s fibre-optic plans were part of the $630 million investment programme shelved last year after the Commerce...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation

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Delay in TV "Revolution" is More Evidence of NZs Perilous Position

Posted Mon 16 July 2007 @ 9:57 a.m. by Ernie

Today's DomPost reveals that the introduction of next generation set-top boxes that enable viewing on demand will be delayed in New Zealand. The TV industry is ready and waiting, but the telecommunications sector is not.This is just one more piece of evidence of the predicament New Zealand has got itself into as a result of being so late to introduce competition. In a speech late last month TUANZ pointed out that because we have dragged the chain, local loop unbundling is now on a collision...

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Vodafone Business - Some Excitement in the Market Now?

Posted Mon 16 July 2007 @ 6:44 a.m. by Ernie

Saturation advertising by Vodafone in business publications these past few days has introduced Vodafone Business fixed line and business calling, a new plan that allegedly slashes 60% from business fixed to mobile calls. At long last - many smaller businesses have been paying the same kind of extortionate fixed-to-mobile prices as residential customers and this will be a significant break through.Undoubtedly Telecom will have to respond. Perhaps at last the SMEs are in for a genuinely better deal.

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

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CallPlus Financier Pulls Out?

Posted Fri 13 July 2007 @ 11:52 a.m. by Ernie

I hope the National Business Review is wrong today when it says a Japanese bank has withdrawn the $450 million credit line it had made available last December to Call Plus. Call Plus declined to confirm the report.New entrants like CallPlus have been waiting for ever for LLU and naked DSL to offer them a viable business model. The last thing users need is any weakening of these dynamic smaller businesses who have been hanging on for so long waiting for first the government, and...

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

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Lame interview questions

Posted Wed 11 July 2007 @ 11:38 a.m. by Sarah

A post on the tech website Slashdot about how best to answer a bizarre question asked at a job interview had me polling the office about the lamest interview question they’ve ever encountered. You know, those questions in which your potential employer presumably thinks your answer will reveal your personality, but in reality you, the job seeker, spend an agonizing 30 seconds trying to think up the ‘right’ - as opposed to the ‘true’ - answer. And while most of us at TUANZ agreed that the lamest question...

Categories: Light relief

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Home to Mobile - the Deals Are There if You Shop Around!

Posted Tue 10 July 2007 @ 7:00 p.m. by Ernie

Remember the much vaunted reduction in mobile termination rates announced by the government back in April?Well, if you're a Telecom customer there's not much to show for it yet. Take a look at the headline rate on the Telecom web site - still an audacious 71c/minute for a residential fixed to mobile call.At some stage should this should reduce by a glorious 3c. This seems to be around August depending how you interpret the legalese in the Telecom Deed Poll the Minister negotiated...

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

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Fibre to the Home in Auckland

Posted Tue 10 July 2007 @ 9:05 a.m. by Sarah

Telecom is deploying Fibre to the Home (FTTH) in a new Auckland subdivision in which 600 homes will be built over the next two years. Using the latest GPON* technology, fibre will be laid from the Remuera exchange to the housing area currently under construction at the Mt Wellington Quarry. Telecom group technology officer Greg Patchell says that in a greenfield the cost of laying fibre is the same as copper, but the benefits are significantly greater. GPON technology allows fibre to be located...

Categories: Fixed line carriers

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TSO absurd and unjust – TUANZ

Posted Mon 9 July 2007 @ 1:03 p.m. by Sarah

The Telecommunications Service Obligation (TSO) calculations for 2004/5 and 2005/06 released by the Commerce Commission today have drawn a strong reaction from TUANZ CEO Ernie Newman. In a media statement he describes the subsidy that Telecom’s competitors pay under the TSO as “economic and commercial absurdity, and grossly unjust.” “We also question why in a market where technology costs are declining and Telecom appears to be doing little to improve rural service, the cost of this subsidy has...

Categories: Regulatory | TUANZ policy

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Aussie Task Force Terms Announced

Posted Mon 9 July 2007 @ 7:45 a.m. by Ernie

Last week closed with the Australian government announcing terms of reference for its Expert Taskforce to assess proposals for the country's metropolitan broadband network. With Australia already several places ahead of New Zealand in the OECD broadband league table, this pro-active approach across the ditch must surely add even more to the pressure on our government to flag a way forward for this country. As I noted in a speech two weeks ago, there is a need for the government to signal...

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