TUANZ - Telecomunications Users Association Of New Zealand

TUANZ - Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand

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Kordia’s vision enlightens After 5s audience

Posted Fri 28 November 2008 @ 3:14 p.m. by Louis

Kordia lifted the lid on some visionary projects during the TUANZ After 5s circuit this month. Chief executive Geoff Hunt gave details of two major projects Kordia is seeking funding for which he says are aimed at delivering better and more affordable broadband to New Zealanders. The first is a proposed fibre network roll-out in the Northland region. Kordia has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Northland Regional Council, NorthPower and Top Energy to build the network. The group has...

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

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After 5s sign off for 2008

Posted Fri 28 November 2008 @ 9:32 a.m. by Louis

The final TUANZ After 5s for 2008 wrapped up in Auckland yesterday, which spells the end of a very busy week for the TUANZ team, and serves as a reminder that in just over a month we’ll be heralding in 2009. This month’s After 5s were hosted by Kordia and were well attended in each venue – Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland. As this was my first round of After 5s, I attended each event, apart from Auckland, which, to be honest, I’m grateful for as Auckland was an ‘After 5am’ and kicked...

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Steven Joyce and TUANZ have a history

Posted Tue 25 November 2008 @ 8:06 a.m. by Ernie

Do I feel stupid?A day or two ago I wrote to our new Minister, Hon Steven Joyce. I included the obligatory paragraph introducing TUANZ.Now I realise that a year ago he spoke at a TUANZ event. Sarah Putt, who wrote this blog post, reminded me.He was rated as the best speaker of the Conference. Some delegates even suggested he should have been the keynote.So when TUANZ gets to meet him, at least he will have prior knowledge of us, hopefully in a positive context.

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Teleworking presentations online now

Posted Mon 24 November 2008 @ 1:27 p.m. by Louis

Presentations from the recent TUANZ Teleworking 2008 conference, presented in association with Cisco, are now available for download online.The conference covered a wide range of topics relating to operating a remote or flexible workforce.Sessions included an international keynote delivered by Cris Palauni, manager of reservations of JetBlue Airways, who manages a team of 1500 reservations staff who all work from home.Local case studies were provided by Prue Jacobson of Unisys and Michael Foley of...

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INTUG advocates fibre for next generation access networks

Posted Mon 24 November 2008 @ 11:20 a.m. by Louis

Ubiquitously available and competitively supplied fibre-based services are vital for economic growth, productivity and jobs, and for universal social inclusion, according to the International Telecommunications Users Group (INTUG). In a submission to a European Commission consultation on regulated access to Next Generation Access (NGA) networks, INTUG is advocating that the direction of fibre services should be towards FTTH (fibre to the home) and FTTB (fibre to the business). However, it states...

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

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A millimetre too close for comfort

Posted Fri 21 November 2008 @ 2:53 p.m. by Louis

Sometimes the simple laws of physics can cause great technological innovations to come unstuck. A great example of this was London’s Millennium Bridge, which while a technical masterpiece resonated so well with its users it started swaying in synch with their footsteps as they walked across it. Another example I experienced this week. As I may have mentioned I enjoy technology – I’m not a gadget geek as such, but I like getting my hands on new techy stuff. Therefore I was rather excited to receive...

Categories: Education | Innovation | Light relief | Regulatory | Vendors

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Chorus sings 50 year veteran’s praises

Posted Thu 20 November 2008 @ 3:32 p.m. by Louis

A great deal has changed in the telecommunications industry over the past 50 years, but one thing that has remained constant is Chorus’ network property manager Craig Bonnington. In an age of quick fixes and instant gratification, Craig celebrated 50 years with Telecom this month. Of course it wasn’t Telecom back in 1958 when he first joined the organisation after arriving in Palmerston North from Scotland. Back then telephone services were still provided by the Post Office and Craig signed on...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Light relief | Vendors | Wireless carriers

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Teleworking hits the headlines

Posted Thu 20 November 2008 @ 11:18 a.m. by Louis

Last week’s inaugural TUANZ Teleworking 2008 conference has received a fair amount of coverage in the latest Computerworld. The coverage includes an interview by Computerworld editor Rob O’Neill with SalesforceatHome general manager Jacob Murray-White who presented at the event. The article also includes a video interview O’Neill conducted with Bevis England, director of Telework New Zealand, who presented two sessions at the conference. In addition, Computerworld has also published a case-study...

Categories: Events | Innovation | TUANZ policy | Vendors

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Vo-damn! A tale of ‘roaming robbery’

Posted Wed 19 November 2008 @ 3:11 p.m. by Louis

The cost of using mobile broadband overseas has one TUANZ member calling 'roaming robbery'.The Auckland businessman, who wishes not to be named, discovered recently that Vodafone data costs 100 times the price it does locally when roaming just across the Tasman.This is his story:“Last week I was working in Australia. I needed to access my e-mail, so decided to try my Vodafone Vodem. With the new high speed mobile broadband network, the service worked extremely well – downloading my 20 e-mails in...

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New Zealand broadband build-out among the “most ambitious” in the world - Reynolds

Posted Wed 19 November 2008 @ 9:52 a.m. by Louis

Telecom CEO, Paul Reynolds, is claiming that New Zealand's current broadband build-out is “one of the most ambitious broadband programmes in the world”. According Computerworld.co.nz, Reynolds is making the claims in an interview with Television Hawke's Bay that airs tonight. In the interview, Reynolds reportedly says New Zealand has overtaken the UK in broadband and that services here are now the sixth cheapest in the world. He also claims that Telecom's own broadband services have improved...

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

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Digital Dipton will make life easier for Bill English

Posted Tue 18 November 2008 @ 2:17 p.m. by Ernie

Bill English is to use Skype to stay in touch with the electorate, the Southland Times reports.Great! The more senior MPs who rely on broadband, the more awareness of the need to improve the reach and speeds.Bill will be able to use the SSC's Fibre Map to check out how his electorate is faring in the fibre race, and his constituents' can test their actual speeds on this speed test. I'm sure the politically-astute telcos will have mapped his home and made sure it is well served, but the...

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“We value your ongoing custom…but it will cost you”

Posted Mon 17 November 2008 @ 4:31 p.m. by Louis

Shifting home – no one loves it, right? With all the packing and loading boxes and furniture onto a truck just to unload it all again a few kilometres down the road, it is just a hassle. Even getting movers in only serves to slightly reduce the hard labour part of the exercise. With all this physical activity going on, when it comes to the more virtual tasks of changing over power, insurance and – yeah, you guessed it – phone and internet accounts, most movers would expect this to be a relatively...

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

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Joyce is new Comms and IT Minister

Posted Mon 17 November 2008 @ 3:34 p.m. by Ernie

Stephen Joyce has been named this afternoon as the new Minister of Communications and IT.His history suggests he'll bring a pragmatic, business-focused view to the role. His knowledge of electronic media, gained through a career as a highly successful broadcasting entrepreneur, will give him a head start. And the fact that he is also to be Minister of Transport will give him an interesting crossover to other forms of infrastructure.TUANZ welcomes him to the role and looks forward to a constructive...

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Fibre - what's next?

Posted Fri 14 November 2008 @ 10:00 a.m. by Ernie

It's the $1.5 billion dollar, plus leverage, question. When do we start and what's the process?As National has acknowledged, they haven't put a lot of detail behind their proposals. This should surprise nobody - they've been in opposition and without access to the range of official advice their predecessors enjoyed.But the plans, concepts and intellectual grunt to make this happen, quickly and efficiently, are all out there scattered around the community.So in the event that I got a phone call inviting...

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

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TUANZ - what's up?

Posted Fri 14 November 2008 @ 9:17 a.m. by Ernie

Lots happening here - some good, some sad!You might have read in the media that TUANZ and Internet NZ have entered into a formal collaborative discovery process to explore opportunities for closer organisational alignment. Here's the full statement signed off by our Chairman Chris O'Connell and Internet NZ President Pete Macaulay.It's convergence-driven and makes heaps of good sense in my personal view!On an unrelated and sadder note, with the international financial meltdown the forecast...

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JetBlue takes flight with teleworking

Posted Tue 11 November 2008 @ 1:38 p.m. by Louis

Representatives from innovative US airline, JetBlue, which grew up with an at-home workforce, delivered some compelling insight into the benefits and issues related to operating a remote workforce at the TUANZ Teleworking 2008 Conference today. JetBlue has 1500 of its reservation staff working from home and says this arrangement benefits, not only the company, but also its employees and customers. In the opening address of the conference, Cris Palauni, JetBlue’s Manager of Reservations, says although...

Categories: Events | Innovation | Regulatory | TUANZ policy

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Let the ramblings begin…

Posted Mon 10 November 2008 @ 4:33 p.m. by Louis

Greetings and welcome to my first Downstream blog entry. Allow me to introduce myself – I am Louis van Wyk – the newly installed Communications and Marketing Manager here at TUANZ. A little about myself… I am South African by birth, but a New Zealander by choice having made this country my home over the past seven years. Career-wise I have spent the majority of my time in New Zealand reporting on the local IT sales channel – this is the community of folks who sell, implement, consult on, design,...

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Thanks, David Cunliffe

Posted Mon 10 November 2008 @ 2:42 p.m. by Ernie

So the Labour-led government has gone - and with it for the moment at least, David Cunliffe as Minister of Communications. Cunliffe will be missed. Seriously.Like any business organisation TUANZ membership embraces a range of political colours. Yet through all the frenetic action and controversy of these last few years it has been hard to find anyone with a serious criticism of Cunliffe as Minister. No matter how blue their tie or yellow their jacket, I've found TUANZ members have regarded him with...

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Ultra Fast Broadband is on the way!

Posted Mon 10 November 2008 @ 1:52 p.m. by Ernie

Quote:"There's one modern technology that stands out in terms of its ability to:- draw us closer to our trading partners- put kiwis at the forefront of technological innovation- greatly enhance the way we do business and the way we communicateThat thing is ultra-fast broadband for all New Zealanders."Those words were John Key's. They led to an announcement of the very first economic commitment made by the National Party for this year's General Election - $1.5 billion for fibre. They come from...

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Blog help is on the way!

Posted Fri 7 November 2008 @ 8:18 a.m. by Ernie

Next Monday will be a really important day for New Zealand in two ways.First, there'll be a new government in some shape or form.Second, at long last I'll have a new Blogging Buddy. As my loyal reader may have spotted, I've been largely on my own here since Sarah left a month ago.I'm about to be joined by Louis van Wyk, who joins the staff of TUANZ on Monday. Louis is well known within the industry from his former role with Fairfax Business Media, where he is Editor of Reseller News, the sister...

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TUANZ unveils national digital architecture proposal

Posted Tue 4 November 2008 @ 9:32 a.m. by Ernie

TUANZ is this morning unveiling our new publication "Towards a national digital architecture." A follow up to our Manifesto last March that called for public investment in broadband alongside the industry, the new "green paper" sets out headings for an umbrella document. It notes that in the "old order" Telecom effectively made architectural decisions behind the scenes on behalf of the whole country, but with a new diverse base of investors including lines companies, non-traditional private investors...

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Tauranga - what's wrong with broadband there?

Posted Tue 4 November 2008 @ 8:34 a.m. by Ernie

That's the question posed by serial software entrepreneur and award-winning founder of Xero, Rod Drury.It seems a lot of accountants in that city who use the Xero product are complaining, and Rod is curious to know why. "We’ve done a huge amount of work to make sure our application is fast as it leaves our servers, he says, "but sometimes get speed complaints from parts of the country and Tauranga seems especially bad." Tauranga has had a chequered history in telecommunications, including...

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National broadband map - a posting from TUANZ Chair Chris O'Connell

Posted Mon 3 November 2008 @ 11:12 a.m. by Ernie

Something that was unimaginable just 2 years ago has happened today, and in practical terms it is one of the most visible actions of the refreshing new attitudes to be found in the revitalised Telecom! If you go to the State Services Commissions excellent broadband map you will see the entire Telecom fibre optic network listed! Once this was regarded as the most commercially sensitive data and best guess was all you could do if you wanted to know what was already in the ground either locally or...

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