The Maori Party was unhappy that the bill did not ensure Maori gained part of the telecommunications sector which it was entitled to under the Treaty of Waitangi.

sbiddle:

The Maori Party was unhappy that the bill did not ensure Maori gained part of the telecommunications sector which it was entitled to under the Treaty of Waitangi.

???

I know the Maoris believe they own the radio spectrum but I didn't think they had ever tried toclaim Telecom's copper as well!

....Maybe somebody should mention the words Hauraki Trust and Econet to them..

Jama: From the Herald on Monday:

"You can't expect airlines to just go on losing money or making inadequate profits because everyone wanted to see competition," Mr Fyfe said. "Competition that loses money or destroys value is in no one's interest."

Very prophetic Mr Fyfe.

antoniosk: Well, one has to question where the investment is going to come from now.

antoniosk: Callplus's statement on wimax is smoke...

Please provide a link to back up your assertion.

I don't think the sun shines out of CallPlus by any means, but there is no denying that they have rolled out more Wimax than anybody else in NZ with trials in Whangarei (reportedly at a cost of $3M) and another trial at Gulf Harbour.

The funding that CallPlus have reportedly secured in Japan does sound like a huge amount of money but let's give them a chance to put their money where their mouth is and start rolling out Wimax on a wider scale.

antoniosk: What will Maurice Williamson do if no-one invests in NZ except Telecom (by quietly rolling out fibre to protect their high-value customers)??

Telecom have had years to roll out fibre but apart from a trial in Pakuranga (in the late 1990s I think it was) and a recent announcement of their plans for a new subdivision at Flat Bush (and I think some other parts of Manukau City) there has been precious little action so far as residential customers are concerned.

Sure they have been careful to "roll out fibre to protect their high-value customers" in places like Auckland CBD and Albany, but those areas have competing fibre networks from Citylink and TelstraClear.  It's a little bit like the way Telecom only offer their lowest HomeLine pricing to customers in areas where TCL also have a residential phone network.

Replying to Grant17's challenge:

This is copied straight from the NBR - I have added my highlights to specify where callplus's comments on wimax are smoke:

	Martin Wylie

Company can now go ahead with plans for a nationwide WiMax broadband network

In the New Year the government will auction off rights to 2.3GHz spectrum, ideal for deploying WiMax. With the new funding CallPlus is aiming to secure a “big wedge of that nationwide.”

Mr Wylie said once the outcome of the auction was clear, CallPlus and its new investors would make a decision about “how hard and how fast” to build the WiMax network. “We’re pretty bullish about it.”

But as well as being used for a WiMax network, CallPlus’ new funding could be used to expand its fixed line business (it currently wholesales Telecom services).

The government is now working through legislation first announced on May 3 that would allow companies such as CallPlus access to Telecom’s network in an arrangement called local loop unbundling.

“There is the prospect that we could use the funding for deploying our own Dslams [equipment that provides access to Telecom’s network] – if local loop unbundling gets legs and actually happens in my lifetime,” Mr Wylie said.

CallPlus issued a statement yesterday outlining why it believed Telecom was to blame for CallPlus customers experiencing broadband problems.

“Ultimately we’ll get to a point where they [Telecom] will drive us to build this network because this is the way they behave.”

My interpretation is this is that it's smoke - Callplus have said ONCE THE AUCTION OUTCOME IS CLEAR. It's not the same as saying "we're going flat out now" - and Call+ could - the Alvarion Wimax gear is out. This to me is a threat statement - speed it up TNZ or I'll roll out a competing wireless network, and now I'm saying I've got the money to do it.

Just not clear on spectrum yet....

Grant17: Thanks Antonios. 
Suppose Telecom or some other player with deep pockets decides to play hardball and bid up the price of the spectrum to such an extent that earning a commercial return on the proposed wireless services becomes impossible.

antoniosk: Well, one has to question where the investment is going to come from now. Callplus's statement on wimax is smoke; they are using it as a bludgeon on Telecom to move faster on LLU. Ihug sent back the UBS determination today because they're losing money.
It all seems a lie; what will Maurice Williamson do if no-one invests in NZ except Telecom (by quietly rolling out fibre to protect their high-value customers)??

barf: what type & wavelength of fibre-optic cable is used between remote-units and exchanges? ie how ready is the infrastructure to move to 10G ethernet? (ATM uses two cells to send a single TCP-ACK. I got my fingers crossed for MPLS & Ethernet deployments.)