NBR Technology

Kordia: we’re open to Pacific Fibre ... but also alternatives

ris Keall — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:11:02 +1300

At last, some fighting words from TiVo

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:54:12 +1300

“It’s a bloody annoyance and it’s a dam shame, but it’s out of my hands,” said Hybrid chief executive Robbee Minicola today, commenting on Sky TV’s ongoing refusal to provide onscreen listings for its free-to-air channel, Prime.

Ms Minicola (pictured) is in town today for the Planet2010 communications conference.

Fight report: Keall v Aldrin

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:55:48 +1300

I know, I know, I promised on Twitter to ask Buzz Aldrin “Were all the moon landings faked, or just the first one?”

And after his talk at Planet2010 - slick, good humoured, fascinating - I did race out the door to follow the astronaut.

So did a couple of others, looking for Buzz to sign biographies.

“I don’t sign books,” he said, tersely.

I started to get nervous.

UPDATED: Telecom exec: Pacific Fibre needs a geography lesson

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:36:04 +1300

Quick, somebody check if Rod Drury’s still alive

R staff — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:50:30 +1300

“If I ever get killed in a suspicious car accident, make sure you check out those guys at Southern Cross Cable," Rod Drury told NBR last year.

And that was when the Xero boss was merely making a few verbal jabs at the 50% Telecom-owned cable.

Analyst: Pacific Fibre too optimistic about financing

ris Keall — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:56:34 +1300

UPDATED: How Drury, Morgan, Tindall will fund second Pacific cable

ris Keall — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:32:51 +1300

Kordia: we’ll work with Dury, Tindall & Morgan

ris Keall — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:40:50 +1300

Kordia chief executive Geoff Hunt – whose mission to build a second cable across the Tasman has been ignored by the present government – seems to have found a partner in the new venture launched this afternoon by Rod Drury, Sir Stephen Tindall and Sam Morgan.

The government has been cool on providing any direct funding for a second fibre link, which would break the 50% Telecom-owned Southern Cross Cable’s monopoly.

Technology billionaires bounce back: who’s top

R staff — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:13:15 +1300

A resurgent Nasdaq has helped the geek crowd regain its mojo on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s richest people.

Top of the heap is Mexican telecommunications monopolist Carlos Slim, who moved a nose (well, $US500 million) ahead of previous champ Bill Gates.

Mr Slim’s wallet is about to get a little fatter, too. The mobile mogul recently lent the New York Times $US250 million at a nosebleed 14%.

Not that Mr Gates is hurting. Although now number two, the Microsoft co-founder saw his wealth increase by a tidy $US13 billion during 2009.

Labour calls for regulation of mobile phone costs

PA — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:58:53 +1300

Labour has called on the Government to regulate mobile termination rates to keep call costs down.

The rates are charged by one mobile operator to connect with another network.

Last month, the Commerce Commission delivered a split decision on MTR to Communications Minister Steven Joyce, with two commissioners recommending acceptance of Vodafone and Telecom's voluntary cuts to the rate, and one arguing for regulation.

Checking out Panasonic’s 3D TV

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:46:39 +1300

Sony has some competition in the soon-to-become reality 3D TV market - and things are evenly poised.

Yesterday I checked out a 50-inch Panasonic Viera plasma TV, the TC-P50VT25, part of a new range of 3D sets that will also include 54, 58 and 65-inch models.

First 3D TVs have XXXL prices

ris Keall — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:45:53 +1300

Panasonic and Samsung have become the first companies in the world to commercially market 3D TVs (which also display a conventional picture).

Their prices are more than triple that of today’s tellie - at least when looking at entry-level prices at each screen size.

Panasonic is offering a 50-inch Viera plasma (previewed in Auckland by NBR here) for $US2900 ($NZ3877), bundled with a 3D-capable Blu-ray player.

Sky TV a little more interested in 3D than it lets on

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:44:49 +1300

Telecom’s passage to India

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:42:34 +1300

Telecom to wary corporates: our plan to toughen XT

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:55:14 +1300

Cisco's faster router fires up stocks on Wall Street

vil Gibson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:53:28 +1300

Stocks on Wall Street finished higher as the telecommunications sector continued to steam ahead after Cisco Systems announced a new high-speed internet router.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 11.86 points, or 0.1%, at 10,564.38 after a volatile day's trading in which swung between gains and losses late in the session.

Its telecommunications components built on earlier gains after Cisco unveiled the new router, which the company says is 12 times faster than its rivals and will help alleviate congestion in mobile data networks.

Plus SMS fined $50,000; further investigation required

ncan Bridgeman — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:08:22 +1300

Suspended issuer Plus SMS has been fined $50,000 for breaching NZAX listing rules and faces further investigation for allegedly passing information to some shareholders without informing the entire market.

The NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal found Plus SMS, a would-be text messaging company, acted in breach of two rules when it failed to file its preliminary results by June 14, 2009.

The company is still in breach and remains suspended from the stock market.

Six start-ups get quick pitch for $70,000 prize

PA — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:43:22 +1300

Six start-up companies offering very different services will compete for a prize worth over $70,000 on Saturday, during the two-day Planet 2010 communications and technology conference in Auckland.

The companies will have five minutes to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, with the winning pitch awarded $70,000 worth of IT, marketing, legal and accounting services, as well as three computers and account management support.

No break-free bonus for XT hoppers moving to TelstraClear

ris Keall — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:32:50 +1300

TelstraClear has launched a new 3G service for residential customers, headlined by a $20/month, two-year plan that offers 29 cent/minute calls to any national landline or mobile number, 500 free txts, and mobile data charged at a bracing 50 cents per megabyte.

Vodafone struggles with the S word

R staff — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:24:28 +1300

Now, granted, Vodafone’s spin doctors don’t have quite the practice of Telecom’s at dealing with network outages.

But when intermittent problems hit 16 Vodafone cellsites around the Bay of Plenty on Saturday, it was still a bit quick to point the finger.

A spokesman immediately blamed a routine-upgrade-gone-wrong by fibre contractor FX Networks.

TVNZ launches channel on Sky Television

PA — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:54:19 +1300

State-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand is launching a channel playing New Zealand programmes on pay television operator SKY Television's platform in June.

The new channel, called TVNZ Heartland, will be available to all subscribers to the SKY's basic package.

"We're delighted to be entering the pay TV market in partnership with SKY TV, as a complement to our free-to-air business," said Rick Ellis, TVNZ's chief executive.

Heartland would broadcast classic and more recent shows.

Theresa Gattung: true or false? Take NBR’s fun test

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:54:45 +1300

Vodafone says no to suicidal zoozoo

R staff — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:23:54 +1300

Checking out Sony's 3D TV

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:46:32 +1300

[UPDATE II: A couple of readers have asked about a Sony 3D TV's ability to upscale 2D "normal" content to 3D, when coupled with a firmware-upgraded PS3. A Sony rep confirmed today the company's 3D setup does support such upscaling, but said "the quality couldn't be guaranteed". He compared it to DVD to HD upscaling. He didn't say it, but I would have added - ugh.]

Another XT scalp: Vodafone steals Mondiale

ris Keall — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:13:56 +1300

New Zealand’s largest freight forwarder has moved its telecommunications business from Telecom to Vodafone.

Mondiale Freight Services did not want to comment on its previous contract, but NBR understands that the string of four XT outages contributed to the company’s decision (at the time it signed with Vodafone, Mondiale was on Telecom CDMA).

Telecom previously held most of Mondiale’s business, but Vodafone had a foot in the door with several of the freight forwarder’s staff using iPhones on its network.

Fibre campaign a marketing tool

R staff — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:39:27 +1300

Lines company Vector appears to be taking advantage of Telecom’s recent woes to gather public support for its bid to install “fibre to the door” of 450,000 Aucklanders.

According to company tweets, more than 1000 members of the public have submitted comments on the www.fibretothedoor.co.nz website since it launched.

Along with social media, Vector is running a television advertisement (see below).

Telecom shares hit fresh low

R staff — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:35:45 +1300

Telecom shares (NZX: TEL) hit a fresh low yesterday, closing at $2.19.

The company traded at above $4 at the start of chief executive Paul Reynolds’ reign in 2007.

Since then, the company has been hit by regulatory changes such as operational separation and local loop unbundling, which have opened it to fresh competition just as its once-lucrative fixed-line business evapourates, and its shares have moved gradually downwards.

The 25 most powerful people in tech

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:23:00 +1300

English doesn’t budge on $1.5 billion for broadband

ris Keall — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:41:05 +1300

As expected, the finance and infrastructure minister did not include any Crown fibre top up under a National Infrastructure Plan released this afternoon.

Funds available for the ultrafast broadband project remain at “$1.5 billion Government investment, which is expected to be at least matched by private sector investment.”

The leisurely timetable remains in place, as well, with target dates of 2016/17 for businesses, schools and health services to be connected under the public-private programme, and 2020 for connecting 75% of homes.

Telecom boss admits bonus not safe - but just what is his bonus?

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:32:23 +1300

How XT woes hurt Telecom’s Crown fibre chances

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:16:44 +1300

Vodafone offers to pay your XT break fee - but there's a catch

ris Keall — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:06:07 +1300

2degrees claims 550% sales jump after ads targeting XT

ris Keall — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:28:52 +1300

On Tuesday, 2degrees launched a "Feeling disconnected?" campaign aimed at long-suffering Telecom XT users.

While the mobile newcomer has less room to manoeuvre than Vodafone (2degrees won't upgrade its network to 3G until later this year), the campaign does push the telcos txt and calling rates, and half price phones.

"Sales have gone up 550% on the February daily average," 2degrees head of corporate communications Bryony Hilless told NBR on Friday.

"Our call centre has also seen a big hike in calls," Ms Hilless added.

US investor cleared to take 100% stake in 2degrees; value revealed

ris Keall — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:14:51 +1300

Apple TV vs TiVo

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:00:41 +1300

Last night, I hooked connected an Apple TV box to my TV (a 50-inch Panasonic plasma, capable of a 1080p, full-HD picture), and tried downloading my first movie from iTunes.

I’ll keep you posted in the days and weeks ahead, but my initial impression is that it’s a cut above the Caspa movie download service that comes bundled with the TVNZ-backed TiVo (which I’m running in parallel).

Retailers need to step up security

lly Gregor — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:01:47 +1300

Retailers need to become more vigilant about checking customers credit card signatures before accepting the purchase as they are ultimately responsible if the card has been stolen, information security provider Clear Swift says.

Identity theft – such as name, date of birth, address, telephone, bank and credit card number details – are in hot demand. Credit cards can easily be compromised online but checking a signature from an item is purchased from a store should be mandatory.

Joyce launches investigation into Telecom 111 failure

R staff — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:10:14 +1300

An investigation has been launched into the failure of some emergency 111 calls in Auckland this morning by Telecom.

“I spoke to Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds this morning and agreed that officials from both the Ministry of Economic Development and the Police will be involved in this investigation,” said Minister for Communications and Information Technology Steven Joyce.

Copyright abusers get three warnings before termination

PA — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:33:49 +1300

Internet New Zealand has welcomed a new bill changing copyright laws but says the penalty of suspending a user's account for breaches won't work.

On Tuesday, Commerce Minister Simon Power introduced a bill repealing Section 92A of the Copyright Act.

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill replaced the section with a three strikes regime intended to to deter illegal file sharing.

Analyst provides own independent report on XT

ris Keall — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:41:05 +1300

Nielsen: most consumers open to pay movie downloads

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:29:30 +1300

Lawyers complain about XT

R staff — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:00:53 +1300

While several of Auckland’s reporters were waiting for the Mark Bryers hearing, lawyers at the Auckland District Court were bemoaning Telecom’s XT network and its obvious failures.

It’s been a rough few days for Telecom, its former CTO (chief transformation officer) Frank Mount and the man at its helm Paul Reynolds.

Alcatel-Lucent global boss takes rap for XT

R staff — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:38:26 +1300

Alcatel-Lucent global chief executive Ben Verwaayen has copped the rap for the repeated, and as yet unexplained, failures on Telecom’s XT network.

"It is not acceptable and I take responsibility," said Mr Verwaayen this morning, speaking to Radio New Zealand National from New York.

Yesterday, Telecom chief executive Paul Reynolds said he had personally called Mr Verwaayen to “put Alcatel-Lucent on notice.”

And, it seems, Mr Reynolds may have also requested a mea culpa media appearance.

Telecom shares break 52-week low

ris Keall — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:31:01 +1300

Telecom shares (NZX: TEL) were down 2.17% to $2.25 in mid afternoon trading, breaking out of their 52-week band ($2.26-$2.88).

Yesterday, the companies shares were down one cent for most of the session, but crashed a further five during the telco's XT briefing, during which $10 million compensation was announced.

Before the January 27-29 XT outage hit, kicking off the telco’s latest round of mobile grief, its shares had been trading at $2.44 - already well-off their 52-week high of $2.88.

Time to back up the truck? Or will Telecom fall further?

ris Keall — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:28:15 +1300

Reynolds: $10m compo, Alcatel-Lucent 'on notice'

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:04:37 +1300

Speaking in Auckland this afternoon Telecom chief executive Paul Reynolds said he had put his company's network partner, Alcatel-Lucent "on notice".

Dr Reynolds, who described the French-based company as the organisation that "designed, built and runs XT" said he personally telephoned Alcatel-Lucent's chief executive Ben Verwaayen to inform him of this fact yesterday.

The Telecom boss was short on detail of just what "being on notice involves", however.

Three-strike law for illegal downloading one step closer

bert Smith — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:02:54 +1300