TUANZ - Telecomunications 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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Reflections on a hellish week for Telecom and its customers

Posted Mon 1 March 2010 @ 4:23 a.m. by Ernie

The tsunami warning came as a bit of a relief yesterday. After a solid week when telecommunications was in the news in unfavourable ways, it was good to have this sector off the front page for a day at least – though a lot of people were fervently hoping that if the tsunami proved to be for real, XT would last the distance!The week in telecommunications started on Monday with a disappointing split decision from the Commerce Commission on mobile termination rates. TUANZ said the Commission had...

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

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"Engaged," XT, and getting through to Telecom

Posted Thu 11 February 2010 @ 12:14 p.m. by Ernie

Here's an interesting customer experience from Christchurch.Willie (surname withheld but I declare a personal connection) owns a business that has several mobiles and has been a loyal customer of Telecom since the beginning.Willie has one very specific requirement. He doesn't want cellular voice mail. If he's on the line he wants callers to get the old fashioned "engaged" tone. (Remember it?) His logic is fair enough - with "engaged" I ring you, get "engaged", and call you back later - total...

Categories: Light relief | Wireless carriers

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Do you recognise this man?

Posted Thu 21 January 2010 @ 2:01 p.m. by Ernie

If so, please send us your caption for the photo. Entries should be lodged under "Comments" below. TUANZ offers a significant prize for the best entry received. Closing date is Thursday 28 January at 5pm, winner/s announced in "TUANZ This Week" the following day.

Categories: Light relief | 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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Catching up on old friends

Posted Tue 3 November 2009 @ 3:06 p.m. by Ernie

Thanks to the government, I'm having a great week talking to old friends.Its not intentional. You see, the government introduced the ban on hand-held cell phones in cars. My hands-free was unsatisfactory so i invested in a new Blueant Supertooth 3 which clings to the sun visor, plays really nicely with the Blackberry, and works just fine.Fine, except for the data/voice conversion which can be a lottery on a bad day. I dont know whether the woman inside the Supertooth is dense, or...

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

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SMS messages going AWOL

Posted Wed 28 October 2009 @ 11:37 a.m. by Ernie

I thought I was alone in having text messages vanish into the ether for several hours before mysteriously re-apperaing. But then I saw this billboard yesterday on a pub in the Bay of Plenty!

Categories: Light relief | Wireless carriers

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Looking for David Tua?

Posted Sat 3 October 2009 @ 6:16 p.m. by Ernie

Sorry guys, you're in the wrong place. Every time David does something, we get a surge of hits from people searching for "tua nz"But while you're here, feel free to look around - lots of interesting stuff about mobile termination rates, local loop unbundling, and network economics.If you still want the "other Tua" thats ok with us.

Categories: Light relief

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Bringing down the house

Posted Thu 1 October 2009 @ 3:27 a.m. by Ernie

International conferences like APECTel are pretty serious affairs. The content doesn’t lend itself to much levity, and language barriers make humour a bit more risky than normal. So the roar of laughter at APECTel this morning was memorable. Picture a room comprising a large rectangle of tables, with maybe 60 people seated around them and the same number again on chairs behind them. Behind the head table and screen are a large blackout curtain on a tubular frame – maybe 4 metres high and 12 metres...

Categories: Light relief

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Today's trans Tasman telecommunications tsunami, and David Thodey

Posted Thu 17 September 2009 @ 9:56 a.m. by Ernie

What a day! I’ve been here in Sydney at Paul Budde's trans sector roundtable on usage for fibre networks. I’ve got oceans of notes and I’ll blog about them tomorrow – a very informative and stimulating session. But right now I’m drained. Since I arrived here 24 hours back Steven Joyce has announced the next stage of New Zealand's fibre plan, and the Aussie government, a few hours later, has told Telstra to play nicely or face the consequences. Just another routine day in this dull world of telecommunications! The...

Categories: Events | Fixed line carriers | Innovation | Light relief | TUANZ policy

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Reflections on a Trans Sectoral Life

Posted Wed 16 September 2009 @ 12:05 a.m. by Ernie

I’ve been looking forward to this week. I’m in Sydney tonight ready for Paul Budde’s “Trans Sector Round Table” tomorrow. (Memo to self – if talking about this in the pub tonight, enunciate clearly.) Paul has been spending a huge amount of resource educating the Aussie government, as well as the Obama administration in the USA, on how broadband can be used to improve society, the economy, and people’s lives. He’s coined the term “Trans Sector” to describe the business model that will make next...

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Brash and Broadband; Productivity and Parsimony

Posted Fri 11 September 2009 @ 8:42 p.m. by Ernie

Today I spent an interesting 40 minutes with Dr Don Brash who is leading the government's Productivity Task Force. Its goal is to increase productivity and close the income gap with Australia by 2025.(Piece of cake, I hear you say! Yeah, right!)My interest in the topic is broadband-related. Our Board and members are passionate about the potential for ultra-fast connectivity to transform New Zealand's productivity performance. We've been working on that, with sleeves rolled up, since 2002.I invited...

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Carrier pigeon faster than South African carrier

Posted Fri 11 September 2009 @ 10:06 a.m. by Louis

This may not be the best to time to say this – but spare a thought for our broadband-hungry cousins in South Africa. With the Springboks in Hamilton, after a brief detour to more sub-tropical climes, with a goal to pummel the All Blacks tomorrow night, it would be understandable not to feel overly sympathetic toward South Africans (especially if you live in Hamilton). However, here is a story that many internet users right here in Godzone would have empathy for, especially in rural areas. A South...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Light relief

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Mobile termination conference under way - but are there dirty tricks?

Posted Wed 2 September 2009 @ 2:14 p.m. by Ernie

The ComCom mobile termination conference is under way in Wellington. A big turnout – maybe 100 people in the room. Multiply that by the average competition lawyer’s salary! And this is what – the fourth major conference on this topic over the years? Its all déjà vu. A bit like a geriatric rock group getting together for one final performance of a show that propelled them into stardom in their youth. But just like such a swan song it lacks something because the script is all memorised and ever-so-predictable....

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2 Degrees - you don't win them all

Posted Thu 6 August 2009 @ 6:13 a.m. by Ernie

My earlier posting noted the degree of public awareness 2 Degrees has around a brand that was unheard of a month ago. But it seems public understanding is not absolutely accurate. Witness this conversation yesterday in a taxi in Wellington, after I had finished making a call in which 2 degrees name was mentioned:Driver: This 2 Degrees - are they a good company?Me: (Supressing the irritation I feel when cabbies reveal they've been listening to conversations) Yes, they've certainly got some good prices.Driver:...

Categories: Light relief | Wireless carriers

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Greetings from Bucklame!

Posted Thu 16 July 2009 @ 10:27 a.m. by Louis

Despite high mobile termination rates inflating the cost of sending text messages in New Zealand, there is still a lot of fun to be had while texting. Trying to spell New Zealand place names while using predictive text can often deliver some interesting results as former TUANZ Topics editor Greg Adams discovers in this piece, which I thought our members who are avid texters would enjoy… The predictive texter's guide to NZ

Categories: Light relief

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Adios waterbed effect - Vodafone

Posted Mon 13 July 2009 @ 7:53 p.m. by Ernie

Last night I watched TVNZ's "Sunday" expose' on mobile phones, 2 Degrees and mobile termination with extreme interest. You can watch live here in two sections - part one and part two. It was a good piece of journalism. Not because I was on - I loathe talking on TV. I especially hate watching myself. One of my kids kindly suggested long ago that I had a "radio face" and I fear that's right.So my interest last night was in the defence that incumbents Vodafone and Telecom...

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Watch out! Pirates about

Posted Fri 26 June 2009 @ 10:11 a.m. by Louis

One issue which many speakers and delegates at this week’s ICT Summit bemoaned was the high cost of international bandwidth. And rightly so, high international bandwidth costs inflate the price of broadband access for Kiwis and is one of the reasons ISPs need to impose data caps. These factors are surely inhibiting users from getting the full potential from their broadband access.At issue is the fact that essentially we have just one undersea cable connecting us to the rest of the world. While...

Categories: ISPs | Light relief | Vendors

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Come on Wellington (and Hamilton)!

Posted Thu 28 May 2009 @ 10:56 a.m. by Louis

It appears the Hurricanes’ loss to the Chiefs in Super 14 rugby last weekend, has left Wellington contact centre staff in the doldrums… This may explain why registrations for the Wellington leg of next week’s TUANZ Contact Centre Networking Lunch hosted by Nortel are below expectation. While we have just about reached capacity for the Christchurch and Auckland sessions on June 2 and 5 respectively, Wellington is just not bringing up its end! Usually attendance at TUANZ events from Wellington is...

Categories: Events | Light relief

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Telecommunications Day - a personal reflection

Posted Thu 14 May 2009 @ 9:56 a.m. by Ernie

I’m drained but exhilarated! I was dreading this week. There was a TUANZ Board meeting on Monday, then our annual Telecommunications Day and AGM yesterday. I’d been dreading having to front up to the Board and members to report a significant financial loss in 2008. And I’d been apprehensive about how Telecommunications Day would go – the first time we’ve run a major event with our greatly slimmed-down team. But nothing could have gone better. Nothing! Telecommunications Day was superb....

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The long and short of Telco Day...

Posted Tue 12 May 2009 @ 4:49 p.m. by Dummy

Today’s TUANZ Telecommunications Day 2009 at Te Papa in Wellington today was no exception. For a long time now, we’ve wanted to get diminutive, but big on energy, TUANZ events coordinator Sophie Czurajewski side by side with towering Telecom CEO Dr Paul Reynolds. So with both present at the event today, we could not resist grabbing a quick snapshot of the two together just to show there is always something interesting happening at TUANZ events!

Categories: Events | Light relief

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TUANZ has two new Board members

Posted Tue 12 May 2009 @ 3:26 p.m. by Ernie

TUANZ, has announced the election of two new members to its Board – John Crisp and Tony Wickstead. John Crisp is Telecommunications Manager with Transpower. John started his career in telecommunications as a Linesman for New Zealand Post in 1978, and has since held various roles with national and international organisations; Samoatel Ltd (Samoa), TelstraClear, Gooder Ltd, Nippon Telecommunications Consulting Co Ltd (Sri Lanka). Working for the Japanese Overseas Economic Co-operation Fund) and...

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Problem with swine flu help line

Posted Fri 1 May 2009 @ 10:16 a.m. by Dummy

I just tried to ring the new swine flu help line but they must have a technical glitch - all I got was crackling!

Categories: Light relief

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Does cyberslacking make your blood Boyle?

Posted Fri 24 April 2009 @ 12:51 p.m. by Louis

Cyberslacking reportedly costs companies millions in lost productivity each year, but with a world wide web out there teeming with fun and exciting stuff to watch and listen to, is it any wonder people get lured into chewing up their employers bandwidth for their own personal entertainment? One of the top causes of cyberslacking in the past few weeks must be thanks to runaway success of one Susan Boyle – an unassuming Scottish woman, who has become a global internet sensation. Over 100 million...

Categories: Light relief | TUANZ policy

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Use your mobile on the plane - Wahoo????

Posted Sat 4 April 2009 @ 6:38 p.m. by Ernie

I hadn't noticed until now, but using our mobiles in flight is now a technical and commercial reality. In Europe in fact, it is here and now. Not on a great scale admittedly - if you fly in Europe tomorrow morning your odds of being on a mobile-equippped aircraft are about one in 200. Ryan Air, TAP Portugal, and BMI are the only three airlines on the game thus far.On one level its exciting. I'd love to be able to make the occasional call, or SMS exchange, on my regular milk run between Auckland and...

Categories: Innovation | Light relief | Wireless carriers

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