I have been lurking around this forum for sometime and this is my first contribution.
In my opinion, Vodafone NZ is the biggest loser. They bought Ihug in order to provide a fixed and mobile options the NZers. The internet plans that they are providing now are not that exciting partially i think they are still wondering what they can do with ihug "dominance".
When Ihug placed their red hot box in the exchange, it looks like a big day for Vodafone and Ihug. I can hear Vodafone saying..."now we can provide cheaper internet offering through LLU"
Obviously, the marketing and engineering boys and girls did not sit together to understand the technology of ADSL. If they have do a google search, they would have found out that European operators have done similar rollout as Telecom in the past.
To me, buying ihug is the biggest mistake Vodafone has ever made. If they are really keen, why not expand ihug infrastructure? Why decide to announce to the public that they want to further expand their HSDPA network? Only time will tell. I cannot see Ihug surviving in this brave new world of telephony. Sooner or later, Ihug will have to go.
I believe the dark horse is now TelstraClear. They have heaps of cables all the way from the top of the north island to the south island. if telstra get their acts together, they might be the winner of the cabinetisation debacle.