I saw a couple of ads in the paper today that have got me thinking. (Yes, it hurt).
Telecom are going hard-out to promote VDSL at the moment, and they have also entered the market with very aggressive pricing (which is unlike them) that barely raises the bill at all, making taking it up a no-brainer for their existing customers, and are requiring splitters to be installed. I notice that they are also currently offering a $150 account credit when you buy a LG Smart TV (saw it on a Smiths City ad).
Which leads me to thinking... why would Telecom A) be in such a rabid craze to get all their users on far higher speeds so quickly that they're practically giving it away, B) be so worried about the impact of poor quality wiring that they're selling splitter installs and bundling in a modem for just $99, and C) be helping and encouraging their customers to splash out on a shiny new smart TV?
Could it be that Telecom has an IP TV product coming out? I think this answers all three of those questions. If you were about to unleash some kind of IPTV product, wouldn't you want to make sure that your existing user base already had the speeds, quality wiring and TV to make launching it a success?
It could be as simple as them planning to zero-rate and partner with the football premiership streaming app, but that seems too specialised. Could Netflix be coming, with Telecom as a partner for zero-rated traffic? Or something produced in-house?
Just some random thoughts, but it really does feel like there is a reason that Telecom are doing these things. Anyone got any thoughts about this?