Epitiro announced its last broadband service performance results for 2007 today, and the news was generally positive for New Zealand consumers and businesses. “While TelstraClear maintains a comparably good service to the main centres, the others are unquestionably catching up” said Managing Director of Epitiro, Michael Cranna. “If Orcon hadn’t experienced email service delivery delays, they would have pushed pretty close to the top spot.”
 
The top 3 positions were as follows;
 
1: TelstraClear
2: Orcon
3: Slingshot
 
“Pretty much all of the ISPs showed an improvement in their performance on the previous three month period” Cranna said. “While New Zealand is still at the back of the pack of OECD countries, the direction we are heading is the right one. Big issues still remain to be resolved, such as the cost of cabinetisation and improving our connectivity to the rest of the world, but the Commerce Commission’s work in establishing the new ground rules for the industry should begin to provide a more stable investment environment for the key players” he said. “The combination of government and Telecom management working in concert for the first time offers the prospect of real progress.”
 
“2008 will be a big year” Cranna said. “The Commerce Commission and Epitiro, with assistance from IDC are developing a sophisticated approach to monitoring broadband service performance, in addition to extending our coverage beyond the main centres. Consequently, New Zealand will be in an excellent position to monitor and compare its progress with the rest of the world on an ongoing basis.”
 
“It will be interesting to see if TCL can maintain their position as this comprehensive methodology unfolds and our coverage extends into provincial and rural areas” he added.