Telecom disbanding charity subsidies

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom disbanding charity subsidies

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#37378 31-May-2006 23:13

Jaffa:
Did you know telecom is the 2nd biggest contributor to giving our kids an education apart from the government. They spend over 10 million dollars a year on the school connection program. Telecom would be one of the most generous companies sponsorship wise. So give them a break you have been getting it good for a long time.

Now hang on, this isn't about asking for a handout, it's about asking Telecom to keep their reduced rates for charities. They are still making a profit from these organisations - just not as much as they could be. Again, it's about helping out the non-profit organisations so that they can continue to focus as much resources as possible on providing our communities with a much needed service.

nzbnw

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Spark NZ

#37379 31-May-2006 23:14

Not to mention $1million dollars in tax every day, which of course is redistributed around.

bcourtney

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#37381 31-May-2006 23:30

yoink... i pull my argument. I have found that any intelligent debate on these forums to do with Telecom gets frustratingly brickwalled by Telecom employees. So i will give up.

nzbnw

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#37383 31-May-2006 23:43

blahbmc: yoink... i pull my argument. I have found that any intelligent debate on these forums to do with Telecom gets frustratingly brickwalled by Telecom employees. So i will give up.

Now of course this is going to sound rich coming from me, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. After all differing opinions form the argument or debate (what ever you want to call it). I just think some of us (myself included) can take things a little personally at times. From my point of view I just regret people who have mindset, that Telecom (or any other company for that matter) doesn’t do anything good. That’s what annoys me more than anything.

freitasm

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#37384 31-May-2006 23:43

The good thing is - there are Telecom employees around. Which means they read here, and some of the comments people post in these forums are actually passed on internally.

barf

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#37386 31-May-2006 23:49

Jaffa: Did you know telecom is the 2nd biggest contributor to giving our kids an education apart from the government.

If you had really done your research (and not posted too many large-fonted links) you'd know that schoolzone is generally more expensive than residential and business rates. But I don't doubt you Jaffa. They surely do "contribute" to education.. I welcome you to prove me wrong however :-)

I will email them and let you know if they offer anything reasonable.

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bcourtney

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#37387 31-May-2006 23:55

nzbnw: From my point of view I just regret people who have mindset, that Telecom (or any other company for that matter) doesn’t do anything good. That’s what annoys me more than anything.

And i totally agree. More often than not, I will back Telecom all the way. The services that my business is provided by them we couldn't do without - absolute God send (mobile data plan et al on the Apache's for one). I think most people do realise that Telecom is a major player in providing many benefits to the community through either their services or through donation and sponsorship.

The main point that i think was trying to be made in this thread, was that it is a shame that they have decided to remove the charity phone line plans that they offered. Not a dig, just a shame

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nzbnw

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#37388 31-May-2006 23:58

blahbmc just in case you don’t already know, I wasn’t trying to have a go at yourself with my last post . I was just talking in general.

I understand where your coming from.

Cheers

bcourtney

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#37389 1-Jun-2006 00:13

nzbnw - yeah absolutely understand

Like you, my point was a general one too. Just trying to indirectly get across that not all discussion around Telecom needs to be met with brickwalled defensive comments from Telecom employees - it's really not constructive. Especially in this case where not one of the preceeding posts were directly taking pot-shots at Telecom.

I too think it's great to have Telecom employees available in these forums to help explain things from a TNZ perspective, but jumping on the defensive from the outset for no reason is just not helping anyone.

Like myself i am sure that there are other people that use these forums whom have a lot of influence (if not total) over many businesses' ITC requirements. Sometimes the attitudes from individuals representing a company (while not directly) can often leave an unsavoury taste in the mouths of those that have the ability to change providers at the blink of an eye.

So those of you that can help explain the positions of the Telecom's and the TelstraClear's and the Vodafone's of this country (not Slingshot though, because personally i couldn't care less!) please do so. Keep us informed of why decisions have been made etc (where possible) and help keep the debate flowing, rather than brickwalling it with flat "stop picking on me" comments.

barf

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Ultimate Geek

#37393 1-Jun-2006 00:53

just quickly for the record I am happy with my XTRA/Telecom ADSL connection at home but wouldn't have started this thread unless it was relevant and factual. I dont want to stir anything up, just point out what Telecom are going to do and it is my right to do so.

wirelessluva: I would prefer not to mention much about my client if thats ok. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

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riahon

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#37395 1-Jun-2006 06:18

I think most people do realise that Telecom is a major player in providing many benefits to the community through either their services or through donation and sponsorship

I dont believe that most people have any idea how much is put back into communities. The media lambasting is a reflection of the views of the public, and some of the negative publicity is probably rightly so, however I have yet to see the meida portray any of the positives at a national level. THE MEDIA PROMOTE THE NEGATIVE!!!

I am sure the like of Fonterra, Vodafone, Telecom would love to have their positive image portrayed to the public. If they do it themselves then it will be biased as it would be a paid advert and could be seen as big headed. The media would never do it as it is not news worthy. THE MEDIA HAVE A SELF INTEREST!!

Telecom aside I have never seen any news story based solely on the good that ANY company provide to the community (unless it is their primary purpose). The reason is it is not news worthy by the media. Even shows like Fair Go & Target have a bias to shock the public and continually rehash the David & Goliath story. Many are probably correct however I have known a story personally (no I was not part of the story) and the amount of information NOT shown would have changed the whole story. THE MEDIA LIES!!

Jama

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#37398 1-Jun-2006 07:31

Damn media liers

riahon

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#37402 1-Jun-2006 08:14

grrr - listen to how TV One lead the story of Rod Deane stepping down, there is an implied reference to his reason for resigning, to the uninformed there is only one conclusion - words are oh so powerful and the media are great at manipulating these often at the expense of the truth.

Surely the media have a lot to answer for how society is shaped - damn I hate them, I hate them all.

Another story I was personally involved with only last year. I specifically asked them to write the article using a specific grammatical slant as the target audience would see my stance on this issue. I explained in detail the whys and how it was the most important part of the article and reporter assured me that it would be done - DAMN IT THEY LIED AGAIN!!!

*sorry waaay OT*

tonepe

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Wannabe Geek

#40106 29-Jun-2006 16:32

Hi, a newbie here, lured by this discussion topic.

I work in the voluntary/charity/community (or whatever you want to call it) sector and believe me Telecom is a very hot topic right now. Here is why ....

Once upon a time in a land far away (NZ pre-deregulation) the telephone service was supplied by a government department. Government supported good works in the community by giving charities/voluntary welfare services one domestic phone line because they did not regard these not-for-profit (NFP) organisations as businesses. When the Post Office was split into 3 and sold off, Telecom set up the Voluntary Welfare Organisations Sponsorship programme, which involved calling the organisations businesses and providing the business line rental at a subsidy which kept it at the domestic price. (I have a vague recollection that they originally tried to move the organisations to business rates but they backed off in the face of howls of outrage - however I could be entirely mistaken.)

Last year Telecom undertook a review of the scheme and as a result scrapped it and replaced it with the new Community Connections programme, due to be introduced on 1st Aug. This involves shifting all the NFPs to business rates (including charging for local calls), giving a discounted business line rate of "up to" $40.95 and giving a 10% discount on the monthly bill (with the exception of a few specificed services). All NFPs had to reapply in order to be part of the new programme.

What has happened is: 1) some groups didn't get the message, had no idea this was happening, and out of the blue (to them) are getting letters from Telecom advising them that they're about to get charged full business rates. They haven't budgeted for this, and considering that many groups manage on the smell of an oily rag don't have the funds to cover it. 2) some groups have been declined. 3) Those of us that have been accepted are now trying to do the sums and don't like the answers. The 10% discount comes nowhere near balancing out the increased costs of having to pay 4.5c/minute which I understand is the charge for local calls. Once again, we haven't budgeted for this. In my case, our current Telecom account doesn't show the number of local calls we make so I have no way of estimating the extra cost unless I manually log and time all our local calls.

My organisation is trying to coordinate some collective response to all this. To do that we need to figure out options for the sector, one of which is to have a talk to Telstra (we're in Chch). However I'm profoundly technologically challenged - I don't understand what services like Slingshot etc offer. Can anyone explain in very simple and short words what other services are around and what they do please?

nzbnw

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#40109 29-Jun-2006 17:04

tonepe: Slingshot

Please not Slingshot!! How can anyone stand their CEO!!

Cheers

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