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freitasm

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#22843 10-Jun-2008 10:01
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We here at Geekzone managed to get some time from Scott Bartlett to answer questions you will post in this thread.


These are the rules:


1.Only questions in this thread. Any post that it is not a question will be removed
2.Only valid questions. Any post with questions that are clearly trying to make a point or being a troll will be removed
3.We want your questions but we obviously have a time limit so this thread will be locked Monday 16th June
4.Scott wants your questions but he obviously has a time limit too, so we will try to merge some questions and limit to the

most interesting ones.


Here is a short bio:


"At 28 years old, Scott is NZ’s youngest leader of a telecommunications provider and was listed in PC World’s internet top 20 in 2007.


Scott studied business at some of the world’s top institutions – the London School of Economics and Oxford University – where he decided that his mission was to lead “super high growth” companies.


He led the quik.co.nz business to business ISP, before joining Orcon as GM of operations and regulatory.


He has been CEO since July 2007, where his role is to drive Orcon’s growth through inspiring the 120-odd staff to challenge the status quo."


Please post your questions here!









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TechnoGuy001
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  #136935 10-Jun-2008 10:37
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OK, I have one question:
Will Orcon have a plan some time this year like what Slingshot is planning and Xnet already has, the over night (1AM-7AM) free data.

Thanks to Scott Bartlett for taking some time for us to ask him some questions. and freitasm for making it happen!



mushion22
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  #136938 10-Jun-2008 10:41
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Scott, its fantastic that you agreed to participate here. I'm not sure whether we can ask for your own opinions here or just things about Orcon, but...

What is your view on the use of technology for competitive advantage? Do you agree with the likes of Nicholas Carr's "IT Doesn't Matter" article about Technology as Infrastructure? What is your view on the future of technology?

What is your perspective on the 'ideal' model of telecommunications infrastructure in a country like New Zealand? For example, do you prefer that every ISP owns and operates their own end to end network from CPE through to national or international peer, or a LLU model, or a shared national network, or something else?

In your view/experience, what are the main barriers to deploying broadband infrastructure in New Zealand?

As a subsidiary of an SoE, do you feel that Orcon has any bias from government policy (either explicit or implicit)? Why or why not?

Do you believe it is the place of an ISP in this country to take any social responsibility with their products and services, or should they simply do the minumum required by law and otherwise act as a purely money making enterprise?

What is your opinion on the obligations set out for ISPs for Copyright Infringement by your customers? What is Orcon's Policy on this?

I admire Google for their ability to diffuse technology openly and still turn a profit. Are there any companies or people that you aspire to and do your aspirations influence the strategy of Orcon or other companies you had/have influence over?


jmosen
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#136985 10-Jun-2008 12:33
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Scott, thanks for this opportunity.

1. Over recent months on Geekzone, there have been posts from Orcon users suggesting that Orcon may be experiencing issues due to its growth. These include significant issues affecting speed and latency, long hold times when calling the helpdesk, inaccurate/outdated  information on the Status page, and some trouble tickets remaining unresolved.

What changes can Orcon users expect so that these issues are resolved, and when might customers notice an appreciable difference to service quality?

2. What more can you tell us about Orcon's VOIP offering which I believe is called Digital Voice? When is this likely to be available?

3. What more can you tell us about orcon's virtual network operator arrangement with Vodafone. Do you have a new estimate at this stage of the service's launch?




Jonathan




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  #137131 10-Jun-2008 19:35
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1. What car do you drive?  :P
2. Do you see Orcon going 'beyond' LLU and investing in alternative technologies such as FTTN/FTTH?




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chris021
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  #137357 11-Jun-2008 14:52
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Hi,

I have heard a few rumours floating around in regards to issues with your new network, mainly that Orcon are looking at reselling Vodafone's Unbundled DSL as you are having a few 'teething issues' with your own gear. My questions are:

  • Are Orcon looking at reselling Vodafone’s Unbundled DSL (Using Vodafone’s hardware in the exchanges) due to issues with the Orcon hardware?
  • Would Orcon look at a partnership with Vodafone to speed up deployment of the Orcon unbundled network?

Zub

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  #137508 11-Jun-2008 22:53
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Great idea Maurico, thank you for organising this!
Nice to meet you Scott Smile. Thanks for this opportunity to ask some questions.

I really liked mushion22's questions, looking forward to hearing those answered. Here's a couple of others...

1) What is Orcons stance on Net Neutrality? This question is targetted more towards a situation like this (jpg) rather than discussions of prioritising traffic during peak loads etc..

2) And a fun question for you... Ninjas or Pirates?

freitasm

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#138613 17-Jun-2008 08:13
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Thank you everyone who participated. I have forwarded the questions to Orcon and will post an update here with the answers.





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freitasm

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#141826 1-Jul-2008 11:37
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Folks, we have now posted the answers to these questions. Note that not all questions were answered - I went through all of them and merged some, reworded a few.

You can comment from below this point...





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  #150414 22-Jul-2008 17:46
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In the reply Orcon suggest that they have fixed problems with system staus info on the website. Pleased to hear it. But the costing info re the LLU plans seems out of date - they don't make clear that you'll start paying $35 extra a month if they force you back onto a wholesale plan due to some disagreement with Telecom. EG if you enter a Mt Albert phone number it'll suggest the LLU plans but in fact they no longer let you stay on those, you have to move to a wholesale plan at $35 more per month and (it seems) much slower speeds.

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  #150434 22-Jul-2008 18:47
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pleft: In the reply Orcon suggest that they have fixed problems with system staus info on the website. Pleased to hear it. But the costing info re the LLU plans seems out of date - they don't make clear that you'll start paying $35 extra a month if they force you back onto a wholesale plan due to some disagreement with Telecom. EG if you enter a Mt Albert phone number it'll suggest the LLU plans but in fact they no longer let you stay on those, you have to move to a wholesale plan at $35 more per month and (it seems) much slower speeds.


I think its a case of your line being serviced by an exchange or cabinet which doesn't have Orcon gear inside it.




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duncanblair
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  #150595 23-Jul-2008 11:34
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cokemaster:
pleft: In the reply Orcon suggest that they have fixed problems with system staus info on the website. Pleased to hear it. But the costing info re the LLU plans seems out of date - they don't make clear that you'll start paying $35 extra a month if they force you back onto a wholesale plan due to some disagreement with Telecom. EG if you enter a Mt Albert phone number it'll suggest the LLU plans but in fact they no longer let you stay on those, you have to move to a wholesale plan at $35 more per month and (it seems) much slower speeds.


I think its a case of your line being serviced by an exchange or cabinet which doesn't have Orcon gear inside it.


Correct. Unfortunately pleft is one of a handful of customers who have been affected by cabinetisation. Unfortunately we had no option but to move these customers back to Telecom Wholesale services which are significantly more expensive for us to provide. The industry is currently working to come up with solutions that would allow these customers to remain on the Orcon unbundled network, and we are working as hard as we can in the background to ensure that these are expidited. It is obviously in our best interests to keep customers on our unbundled network that we have invested significantly in.

pleft
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  #150601 23-Jul-2008 11:49
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Yes, the comment re cabinetisation is also correct. My point in raising it here is that it was not well communicated by orcon to customers like me what was happening in reponse to this issue, and it's not mentioned on the website when describing what plans are available and what prices will be charged accordingly.

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#150609 23-Jul-2008 12:15
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I know it may be a little late now to ask, but anyone knows why Orcon doesn't allow you to buy data bundles mid-month and instead makes you wait until your next billing cycle for them?

I know Slingshot allows you to buy bundles anytime, which are useful when you realize you'll be going over your limit for the month and need more data, but don't want to be charge per Gb.

I've just had to pay 20Gb over my limit because I used my first 35Gb in the first 10 days of the billing cycle (lots of web browsing Innocent).




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