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Posted Thu 27 September 2007 @ 4:48 p.m. by Sarah

If Telecom comes up with a timely plan to invest in the Next Generation Network they can avoid some of the more onerous requirements on their legacy network. That’s one of the carrots offered to the telco in the Operational Separation Determination released yesterday. (Of course, the stick is a dirty great $10 million fine if they don’t comply).So what are Telecom’s NGN plans? After the Minister’s announcement yesterday I interviewed Telecom Chief Operating Officer Technology and Enterprises...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Regulatory

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Beware of Outlook Appointments Next Week

Posted Thu 27 September 2007 @ 1:29 p.m. by Ernie

I don't know whether TUANZ is unique, but our ASP has warned us to be very wary of Outlook appointments next week. The start date for daylight saving was changed by the government and it seems Outlook wasn't told, so all external appointments we have sent for Outlook are an hour out of whack.I suspect the issue is not unique to TUANZ. So our suggestion is - be very very wary of Outlook appointments over the next week and if in doubt about the time, query with the originator of the message.

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | ISPs | Light relief | Vendors

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Operational Separation of Telecom - Determination

Posted Wed 26 September 2007 @ 11:06 a.m. by Sarah

Minister of Communications David Cunliffe has just held a press conference in which he has presented the Determination for the Operational Separation of Telecom. And, it appears it really is to be Operational Separation – not a government buy-back of access network as hinted in today’s Dominion Post. This was a point made quite clear by the Minister in his opening comments to the media “there is no deal to sell off Telecom’s network.” So, operational separation it will be, and a rigorous timetable...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Regulatory

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Separation - Today's Announcement All Looks Good for Users

Posted Wed 26 September 2007 @ 10:43 a.m. by Ernie

Minister Cunliffe announced the next steps in the operational separation of Telecom at a news conference this morning. Most is as expected. Those aspects that have changed seem positive and in line wit TUANZ's submission - for instance unlike the British Telecom model the Independent Oversight Group will have a majority of consumer representation and the Chair will be a consumer representativeIts good to see that the Minister appears to have struck an empathy with Dr Reynolds. I understand there...

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Lessons from Nelson Marlborough

Posted Wed 26 September 2007 @ 7:03 a.m. by Sarah

If you want something done, you might as well do it yourself and it seems a high-speed telecommunications network is no exception. On the same day that Wellington mayor Kerry Prendergast bemoaned the lack of telco support for her council’s ambitious fibre network in the Dominion Post, Chris O’Connell spoke about the Nelson Marlborough fibre network at the Small Enterprise Conference. O’Connell is the vice chairman of TUANZ, chief strategist for Radar Guidance and a leading advocate for the Nelson...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation

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Unbundling - the Commission's Timetable Must be Met!

Posted Tue 25 September 2007 @ 8:12 a.m. by Ernie

Telecom's stated concern that it might not be able to adhere to the Commerce Commission's timetable for unbundling must ring alarm bells.It's hard not to feel sorry for Telecom. Yes, they are under huge pressure on multiple fronts. Yes, they have responded honourably and positively to the events of the past year. Yes, we all know they, like the rest of us, are impacted by a massive and crippling shortage of IT skills.But the primary concern must be not for Telecom, but for users and Telecom's competitors....

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

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Broadband Advertising - a Good Initiative From the Commerce Commission

Posted Thu 20 September 2007 @ 1:54 p.m. by Ernie

A great piece of common sense! The Commerce Commission has stepped in and today released a simple set of guidelines for broadband suppliers focused on how they describe and advertise broadband services, especially speeds.This is just what's needed - no regulation, just a simple code for the industry to live by.The misleading advertising of speeds peaked a year or two ago, and to the credit of the ISPs the marketing since then has been a lot more disciplined and intelligible to customers. ...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | ISPs | Regulatory

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$4 million for Tourism NZ, $337.10 for TUANZ

Posted Wed 19 September 2007 @ 8:01 a.m. by Sarah

So Tourism New Zealand is spending $4 million on a promotional campaign on YouTube, according to TVNZ. A short video on the 100% Pure New Zealand theme is posted on the YouTube home page today and this will be followed by a three month NZ-branded channel featuring former All Black captain Tana Umaga. At TUANZ, our YouTube debut last week promoting the Business Internet Awards was a far more modest affair. It cost us $337.10. That is, $300 for Rua from Digital Productions to film the video...

Categories: Events | Innovation | Light relief | TUANZ policy

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Security and Your "Make Good" Policy

Posted Tue 18 September 2007 @ 6:31 a.m. by Ernie

Internet trading is all about confidence and trust - you must have security processes sufficiently robust that you can look your customers in the eye and assure them you will make good any losses that might arise from security breaches.That was my take-home message from the TUANZ "After Fives" last night in Christchurch, hosted by TelstraClear and presented by Greg Bickerton, boss of their security affiliate DMZGlobal.With a 300% increase in spam in just a year, this topic is one we can't...

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

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The Internet Changes People's Lives!

Posted Mon 17 September 2007 @ 8:50 a.m. by Sarah

The presentation delivered by TUANZ Chief Executive Ernie Newman to the Pacific Telecommunications Council on Friday is now online.In the presentation - Broadband Opportunities & Challenges for Smaller Countries: a New Zealand Perspective - Ernie says that for too long the focus has been on the cost of broadband and not on its "transformative potential on people's lives and livelihoods."He says User groups can play a key role in the development of broadband infrastructure...

Categories: Events | Fixed line carriers | Innovation | TUANZ policy | Wireless carriers

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Pacific Islands a Challenge for Operators

Posted Fri 14 September 2007 @ 12:36 p.m. by Ernie

I’m here at the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) Conference in Tahiti (and thanks to the PTC for contributing to getting me here.) I’ve been listening to an update on telecommunications in the Islands given by the charismatic Maui Sanford, President of the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA). Keeping the Islands supplied with a basic telecommunications service is a big enough challenge even before you get to the challenge of the broadband age. They face every problem...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | Wireless carriers

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TelstraClear's the top performer, but is it the top ISP?

Posted Fri 14 September 2007 @ 8:39 a.m. by Sarah

TelstraClear is out in front when it comes to broadband speeds, according to Epitiro, a company offering benchmarking services to ISPs. In a media release today Epitiro managing director Michael Cranna has ranked the top three ISPs in the following order: TelstraClear, Slingshot and Orcon. The company conducted tests on the DSL services delivered by the five largest ISPs in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch between 20 July and 10 September. Cranna explains the methodology: “We basically locate...

Categories: Events | Fixed line carriers | ISPs

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Broadband in the South Pacific - Thoughts from Tahiti

Posted Thu 13 September 2007 @ 11:49 a.m. by Ernie

I'm in Papeete for a couple of days. At the Intercontinental Resort - surrounded by oodles of Japanese honeymooners and allegedly, some attendees at the Pacific Telecommunications Council Mid Year Conference on broadband that starts tonight. No - I'm not spending the royalties from the TUANZ you tube performance!The connectivity is pretty awful - slow DSL speeds and onerous data caps. I suppose honeymooners don't spend a lot of time checking the work emails. (Or if they do they probably...

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Our YouTube debut

Posted Wed 12 September 2007 @ 8:25 a.m. by Sarah

At TUANZ we like to walk the walk. So this year we're announcing the call for entries for the TUANZ Business Internet Awards on YouTube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRxoA_drFkHope you like video!You can enter the Awards here.

Categories: Events | Light relief

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Lessons from Amsterdam

Posted Wed 12 September 2007 @ 7:53 a.m. by Sarah

In 2001 the City of Amsterdam began to worry that it would be left behind in the knowledge economy because its telecommunications infrastructure was in a sorry state. So the Mayor and Aldermen started an investigation into the possibility of connecting Amsterdam households and small and medium enterprises to an open telecommunications network. Frans-Anton Vermast, a consultant to the Development Corporation of City of Amsterdam and a self-confessed broadband evangelist visited New Zealand...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | ISPs | Regulatory

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Sorry Vodafone - We Stick to Our Claim About Mobile Phone Prices

Posted Sat 8 September 2007 @ 9:52 a.m. by Ernie

“New Zealand has some of the developed world’s most limited (mobile phone) competition and highest retail prices.” That’s what TUANZ said in "The Independent" on 22 August. We based our comment – often repeated – on OECD and Commerce Commission statistics. Vodafone’s Tom Chignell responded a week later. “New Zealand does not, as Newman states, have some of the world’s most expensive mobile phone prices. The Commerce Commission’s latest benchmarking report for March 2007 shows...

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Kordia’s WiFi goes to market

Posted Fri 7 September 2007 @ 9:25 a.m. by Sarah

Fresh into the inbox this morning is Kordia’s announcement that it’s about to launch its Metro Wi-Fi Network. This will enable users to access wireless broadband in a number of cities using their own log-on details:“Kordia is rolling out a nationwide network of smart radio nodes that will deliver wireless access ‘hot zones’ across target areas like university campuses, city CBDs, shopping precincts, transportation hubs and more. Unlike ‘hotspots’, the user log-on is portable – both inside and outside...

Categories: Innovation | ISPs | Wireless carriers

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V stands for Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line - ihug

Posted Wed 5 September 2007 @ 9:19 a.m. by Sarah

We’re all waiting for the ADSL2+ equipment to be put in the exchanges so that users can get speeds of up to 24 Mbps. But ihug want to go further than that and install VDSL2, offering those located within 1km of an unbundled exchange speeds of up 50Mbps both ways. “VDSL is the latest, V stands for Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line. It’s just an extension of the same family of services,” says David Diprose, GM for regulatory at ihug. Sounds good, so what’s the catch? Diprose says that Telecom...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Innovation | ISPs | Regulatory

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Customer Complaints and Disputes Scheme Nearing Launch

Posted Tue 4 September 2007 @ 9:48 a.m. by Ernie

I reckon the launch of the Telecommunications Disputes Resolution Scheme on 30 November will be a huge feather in the increasingly-well feathered cap of the TCF!This morning the Forum has announced that the first members of the scheme have signed up. They include CallPlus, Orcon Internet, Telecom, TelstraClear, Vodafone and WorldxChange.Good on them! Joining is a serious commitment. These companies are accepting the right of an independent arbitrator to make awards to customers. Awards are binding...

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ISPANZ elects new president

Posted Tue 4 September 2007 @ 8:47 a.m. by Sarah

The Internet Service Providers Association of New Zealand (ISPANZ) has elected Jamie Baddeley, the GM for Internet Services at FX Networks, as their new president. He takes over from David Diprose, GM for regulatory at ihug.Baddeley was elected president at the ISPANZ directors meeting last week and the membership was informed yesterday. He says that ISPANZ will continue to work with Telecom on resolving the peering issue and on moving LLU forward. FX Networks, primarily...

Categories: ISPs

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Digital Future Summit - Now's the Moment to Register!

Posted Mon 3 September 2007 @ 3:34 a.m. by Ernie

The government's Digital Future Summit is shaping up into a truly great, watershed event. Announcement of the detailed programme last week has galvanised a great deal of interest. Consider these speakers:- Stephen Tindall. Warehouse founder and Chair of the government's Growth and Innovation Advisory Board-Sam Morgan, Trade Me founder- Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web- Four cabinet ministersThe Summit is a key part of the refreshing of the government's Digital Strategy -...

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Unbundled deals coming to market

Posted Sun 2 September 2007 @ 9:06 p.m. by Sarah

How will the end-user benefit from the Telecommunication Commissioner’s draft determination on Unbundled Bitstream Access?* As the first regulatory change to show results in the market, what are some of the deals likely to be? I caught up with Slingshot GM Mark Callandar the day after the Commissioner’s announcement and he told me the ISP is planning to launch UBA deals for around $70 - $80 a month. Customers can expect a package of full speed/full speed broadband with unlimited...

Categories: ISPs

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How hard is it to change your ISP?

Posted Sun 2 September 2007 @ 8:39 p.m. by Sarah

Changing your ISP has always struck me as a rather simple thing to do. We did it at home 18 months ago when Xtra refused to give us broadband but ihug said they were happy to. It took about a month to actually get broadband and for 48 hours during that time our phone was redirected to our neighbour’s house and neither ISP would take ownership of the problem. So yeah, just the kind of customer service we’ve all come to expect from the telco sector (sorry for the note of cynicism but it was a rather...

Categories: ISPs

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