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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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Impound Reynolds' passport!

Posted Thu 25 February 2010 @ 7:43 a.m. by Ernie

The government should impound Paul Reynolds' passport so he can't leave New Zealand.Telecom has had a week from hell. A service like XT is intrinsic to this country's economy. Failure impacts the nation, not just the company. The scale of the problem is enormous and it should never have happened.But let's park that obvious fact for a moment, and look at Telecom’s response.Reynolds' handling of the crisis this week has been magnificent. He's fronted this issue at every step. He's been direct...

Categories: Fixed line carriers | Vendors | 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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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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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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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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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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New entrant PerfectVision to debut at first After 5s in 2010

Posted Wed 25 November 2009 @ 2:13 p.m. by Louis

US-based cabling provider PerfectVision will host the first TUANZ After 5s of 2010 as it looks to expand its presence to our shores. PerfectVision has been developing, manufacturing and distributing high-tech products, high performance materials and electronic components since 1979, and is now expanding its presence worldwide with a special focus on Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Asia. While traditionally a manufacturer of connectors, coaxial cables, tools and other accessories for the satellite...

Categories: Broadband | Events | Vendors

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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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NEW - Fibre to the home Council to meet in Auckland

Posted Tue 10 November 2009 @ 1:59 p.m. by Ernie

The Fibre to the Home Council is to hold its first-ever meeting in New Zealand next week, reflecting the intensity of interest in this part of the world. There is space for a few professional participants to take part - contact John Nixon at this link to inquire.The Council is an increasingly effective body with chapters in Europe and Asia Pacific. I attended one of their meetings in Europe a few years ago and came back pumped up with the potential of the technology. I have no doubt this inaugural...

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Catch Ernie at first NZ Comverse seminar

Posted Fri 6 November 2009 @ 11:12 a.m. by Louis

TUANZ chief executive Ernie Newman will be a guest speaker at the first Comverse APAC Vision Seminar to be held in New Zealand. Comverse is hosting the seminar in Auckland on 17 November to mark its recent entry into the local market, which has also seen it join TUANZ as a member. The company is a leading provider of software and systems enabling value-added services for voice, messaging, mobile internet and mobile advertising; converged billing and active customer management; and IP communications....

Categories: Events | Innovation | Vendors

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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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Wanted: a fibre partner for Wanganui

Posted Fri 30 October 2009 @ 12:42 p.m. by Louis

The Wanganui District Council is looking for partners to help it participate in the Government's ultra-fast broadband initiative. Wanganui is included in the Government's list of towns and cities for ultra fast broadband and the council is keen to see ultra fast broadband rolled out there, says senior policy advisor Marianne Archibald. “We have big dreams – Wanganui District Council is leading the charge for ultra fast broadband in the Wanganui district. “We will be submitting a notice of...

Categories: Broadband | Vendors

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Crown Fibre co formed; board announced

Posted Thu 29 October 2009 @ 3:23 p.m. by Louis

The Government has just announced the formation of Crown Fibre Holdings Limited and unveiled its inaugural board. Crown Fibre Holdings is the company that will manage the Crown’s investment in ultra-fast broadband infrastructure over the next 10 years. Simon Allen, former New Zealand Exchange (NZX) Chair and founder and former managing director of ABN AMRO New Zealand, will lead teh new board as chair. He is joined by board members Andrew Body, Miriam Dean QC, Dr Murray Milner and Keith Tempest. Making...

Categories: Events | Fixed line carriers | Regulatory | Vendors

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In support of E-day

Posted Mon 26 October 2009 @ 7:05 p.m. by Ernie

The 2020 Trust - the people who among other good works run the annual e-day collection of electronic waste - are an energetic, driven and absolutely ethical bunch who have been in the business a fair number of years. I know several of them well - Laurence Zwimpfer, Earl Mardle, and Don Hollander to name but three.They will be absolutely mortified at this story that broke today casting doubt on how the waste from this year's E-day - just 6 weeks ago - was disposed of.If it proves that the Trust...

Categories: Education | Events | Vendors

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Does this sound familiar?

Posted Thu 15 October 2009 @ 11:31 a.m. by Louis

“A dramatic reduction in mobile phone charges may negatively affect the country's economy and communications sector.” This is an excerpt from a submission by mobile operator Vodacom, majority owned by Vodafone, to the South African parliament, as the government debates cutting interconnection rates. The South African government plans to push mobile and telecom operators to reduce interconnection fees, in an attempt to lower telco costs which it believes have impacted the country's growth. The...

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

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Data Tails - High Court finds against Telecom - eventually

Posted Wed 14 October 2009 @ 12:53 p.m. by Ernie

Telecom used its substantial market power from 2001 to 2004 as a means to close down competition in the data market, the High Court has found.This will surprise absolutely nobody who was around in those days - not CLEAR, not TUANZ, not Ihug, and not, I suspect, Telecom.The tragedy is that it has taken six years or more for the court process to reach a resolution. This delay makes for a bad outcome for everybody. Its bad for Telecom's competitors of those days. They needed resolution right then at...

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

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Mobile VoIP: an opportunity for users, a challenge for carriers

Posted Tue 13 October 2009 @ 4:18 p.m. by Louis

A new service add-on from Vodafone in the Netherlands that allows mobile VoIP services is a good case-study of how carriers should approach this emerging technology. Dutch telecommunications news site, Telecom Paper, has published this report on the new service, which serves as a good analysis of mobile VoIP and the challenges carriers face. On the face of it these are rather obvious. Users want to make calls for as little as possible, and many are already used to making free or inexpensive VoIP...

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

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Report on MED Workshop on Fibre Deployment

Posted Tue 13 October 2009 @ 8:13 a.m. by Ernie

Yesterday TUANZ Chairman Chris O'Connell and I attended the first of the MED's series of three seminars to present its paper "Facilitating the Deployment of Fibre Infrastructure.”There was a mixture of good and bad.On the good side, the paper itself is a very solid start in identifying and dealing with a wide range of complex issues - land access. differing forms of infrastructure, RMA and many more. In a sense the paper is the first part of the National Digital Architecture that TUANZ...

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NZ’s broadband quality under par: report

Posted Mon 12 October 2009 @ 5:28 p.m. by Louis

New Zealand’s broadband quality is only just meeting the needs of today’s applications, but we are not comfortably enjoying these applications, and are certainly not ready for tomorrow’s internet uses. This is according to the 2009 Broadband Quality Score report, sponsored by Cisco and conducted by the University of Oxford’s Said Business School and Spain’s Oviedo University. The report calculates a Broadband Quality Score, which is an index that combines key performance parameters to measure...

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

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A negative role model in government IT

Posted Sun 11 October 2009 @ 9:08 p.m. by Ernie

You can't work at TUANZ without being passionate about the role of technology in creating efficiency and productivity gains. Government agencies, by their nature, should be out in front as role models of its cost-effective usage. Indeed, they usually are. So on the rare occasions when I see government agencies get technology seriously wrong through what appears to be carelessness or stupidity, I get really annoyed.I know Auckland's northern toll road well. Its construction through really tricky...

Categories: Innovation | TUANZ policy | Vendors | Wireless carriers

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