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Paul Reynolds says "Enough is enough. XT was engineered, marketed and sold as a world class. But for many customers it is not. No hiding of major outages. One major disruption is too much. Several is intolerable. Each outages had different causes, although they have a common factor in the south zone of the network".
"Alcatel-Lucent has been a strategic partner for nearly ten years. But the time has come for a serious review. We chose the XT technology as a world class technology as a solution to give kiwis the best, but we have seen unacceptable outcomes."
"We asked Alcatel-Lucent to deliver a stable network."
"We are working day and night to restore the faith on XT. This is a great company, and I happy to lead it. I am under no illusions it's difficult times."
Q&A: "What guaranttees you can give us there will be not a fifth outage?"
Paul: "We are working through this transition period and will get this fixed. In the meantime we will recognise the loyalty of our customers."
Q&A: "Who is paying the compensation?"
Paul: "Telecom is paying for the compensation. Alcatel-Lucent is fixing the network."
Q&A: "Was this the result of going to a big bang 97% coverage approach?"
Paul: "No evidence of issue with going to 97% coverage"
Q&A: "Is XT a dog?"
Paul: "XT in half of New Zealand works well, providing the fastest mobile broadband speeds, there are some problems in the other half, they needed to be fixed, and we are working on it."
Q&A: "Were there sufficient testing on the network before going live?"
Paul: "Yes I believe so".
Q&A: "Are you looking for compensation from Alcatel-Lucent?"
Paul: "We won't let contract get in the way of fixing the network for customers. We will work first, and look at these matters later"
Q&A: "People who worked on the network installation blogged about 'cutting corners'. Can you confirm?"
Paul: "We didn't cut corners with XT. When we announced the plan many analysts thought it was expensive.
Q&A: "What did Alcatel-Lucent said to you about this?"
Paul: "Sorry"
Q&A: "Is this enough?"
Paul: "No".
Q&A: "How many customers on XT now?"
Paul: "About 450,000".
Q&A: "Any disconnection numbers?"
Paul: "I don't know".
Q&A: "Are you making the results of the Analysys report to the public including the full report?"
Paul: "We will disclose the recommendations, probably not the full report"
Q&A: "Was the resignation of CTO Mount related to these problems?"
Paul: "Yes, it was"
Q&A: "What is the brand to XT and Telecom?"
Paul: "Issues are relatively short term, when we get this right customers will see how this will benefit New Zealand.
Q&A: "Why only two RNCs on XT and six on Vodafone?"
Paul: "The number of RNCs is related to number of customers you've got. Two are enough for the number of customers we have, and we have plans to deploy more. The issue is one of our RNCs is not working properly."
Each of the outages had a different trigger, with the same end result. Still working to identify why.
Also just released:
Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds this afternoon announced a range of significant measures aimed at restoring customers’ faith in XT following a series of major and unacceptable outages for tens of thousands of customers in recent weeks.
He also announced significant changes to the way in which the XT network will be managed, as a result of the unacceptable level of service.
“For too many of our customers, we have not lived up to the promises we made about XT when the network was launched,” Dr Reynolds said.
“So that’s why we are taking action on a broad range of fronts, covering the operation and management of the network, and customer offers.
“Alcatel Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen has committed to providing the full global resources of his company to get these issues fixed,” said Dr Reynolds.
XT loyalty recognition
For the next three months all XT customers from Taupo southwards during this week’s outages who choose to stay with XT will receive a loyalty credit to their account.
For consumer on account customers this will amount to 33% of the customer’s monthly plan charge including their Telecom Extras such as texting and mobile broadband plans. Customers can expect this credit to be applied from their next bill for a three month period. So on a One Rate 100 plan for $49.95 per month, a customer’s monthly plan cost will in effect reduce to $33 per month.
For pre-paid customers we will apply a 33% bonus every time they top up over the next three months.
For business On Account SME customers and Gen-i enterprise and corporate clients this loyalty credit will amount to 50% of their monthly plan charges over the next three months.
We recognise that customers south of Taupo are unlikely to want to sign up to a longer term contract, so we are ensuring we have offers in store that are attractive.
Dr Reynolds said that Telecom people are now taking much stronger involvement in the day-to-day management of the operations of the XT network.
Operational management
“CIO David Havercroft will assume the responsibility for all network and IT operations from today, and CFO Russ Houlden will carry interim responsibility for our Shared Services operations and Technology Strategy.
“With these measures in place, and with the offers we have made to customers affected by the outages, Telecom is now working day and night to restore customers’ faith in XT,” said Dr Reynolds.
