Yahoo!7 and Telecom New Zealand Join Forces

XtraMSN is no more. Telecom New Zealand has partnered with Yahoo!7 to form a joint venture, named Yahoo! Xtra to provide an enhanced suite of online content and application services for New Zealanders.

Xtra is New Zealand's largest ISP, part of Telecom New Zealand and has partnered with Microsoft's MSN since 2002. The existing XtraMSN portal has been the default home page for Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser since that year.

Telecom Chief Executive Theresa Gattung said that “...The Yahoo! Xtra joint venture will provide New Zealanders with access to the world’s best online services in a localised way.”

“Not only does Yahoo! provide global reach in the online arena, it also has a proven track record of partnering with other leading telecommunications companies including BT in the United Kingdom, Rogers in Canada and Verizon in the USA,” she said.

Telecom will have a 49% equity stake in the joint venture with Yahoo!7, which is a joint venture between Yahoo! Inc and the Seven Network in Australia, holding 51%.

Telecom’s Xtra customers will have access to a range of premium online services with mail, enhanced spam and virus protection management, online photo sharing, localised news and internet radio properties progressively becoming available after the initial launch,” added Kenrick.

The Yahoo! Xtra joint venture will replace the existing XtraMSN site in the portal space with the initial raft of Yahoo! Xtra services due to go live around 1 March 2007.

When the joint venture company is formed Yahoo!7 and Telecom New Zealand will each have three board members, with Yahoo!7 appointing the Chairman.