Techblog: Telecommunications Subscribe to RSS Feed
ComCom prepares for end of copper network
It has served us for so long and (mostly) so well, but the days of the copper network are numbered. Overtaken by the faster fibre network being rolled out around the country, which was branded so succ…
This is a test
The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management has conducted its annual test of the Emergency Mobile Alert system.
Spark launches 5G offensive
Spark is aiming to have its 5G network live by 1 July 2020, in time for the America's Cup the following year. The announcement was made by the telco at the opening of its 5G test lab at a co-working o…
$40m top up for rural broadband
The Coalition Government has dipped into its $3 billion Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) to invest $40 million in rural connectivity. The funding will be used to expand the Rural Broadband Initiative Phas…
Broadband Compare TUANZ Award winners are...
More than 200 professionals from New Zealand's ICT sector celebrated the industry's efforts at this year's Broadband Compare TUANZ Awards held late last week in Auckland.
Brislen on Tech
I listed the digital divide as the single biggest issue facing the new CTO, as something that needed to be addressed immediately.
That didn't work out so well but the issue remains high on the list…
Examining digital exclusion
The digital divide is often spoken about in terms of numbers - the 2020 Trust estimate that 100,000 school-aged children don't have internet access at home, Internet NZ estimate that 16,000 rural ho…
Fibre: Finish the Job
How much simpler, cost-efficient and effective would the services and support you deliver to New Zealand households be if you could assume fibre availability the way you assume roads, electricity and …
Telcos ranked to pay for rural levy
In the tech sector the TIN Report ranks companies in terms of revenue and celebrates their success, with many of those featured using the acknowledgement to attract Government assistance. In the telco…
Chorus unbundled fibre design
Unbundled fibre is coming, by 2020 it will be available for use by retail service providers. What that means for end users is uncertain, in fact what it means for telcos is uncertain, but key details …
Brislen on Tech
We remember when the future was cool. The Sky is falling ... for Sky. And Goods and Service Tax will be applied to every item you buy online - will this change the world of retail for ever?
Ever-decreasing dial-up
Every year a curious statistic is published by Stats NZ - the number of New Zealand residential dial-up internet connections. This year it's down to 18,000, a 25% reduction on last year.
There are…
UFB contractors breach employment standards: MBIE
Nearly all of the sub-contractors working on the Ultra Fast Broadband project for Chorus have been found in breach of employment standards, according to a media release from the Ministry of Business I…
International connections
A map of international telecommunication cables across the globe shows a disparity between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. News service ZDNet lists only 17 subsea cables across the globe and wh…
Brislen on Tech
It's 2025 and your auto-drive car slews sickeningly across a dark and rain-drenched road. You scrabble at the wheel as the car slides across the wet tarmac and disappears into the bush and scrub and i…
Comparing broadband pricing - pre-LLU to post-UFB
The latest stats on Ultra Fast Broadband uptake showed some good results for the network - with 74.8% of the fibre network complete - but what are the end-results for end-users? Have prices risen as s…
Brislen on Tech
A few weeks ago we talked about the EU and its plan to introduce new copyright laws in the shape of Article 11 and Article 13. I suggested the EU would be stupid to do so because they don't understand…
SKY TV boss on content wars, satellite vs UFB
In his 17th and final letter to SkyTV shareholders in the company's annual report, departing CEO John Fellet spells out why the content game is one of the hardest of all the play. The internet may be …
Top marks for broadband, still room for improvement
Here's a good news story. The Ultra Fast Broadband build is 74.8% complete. It is 7% ahead of schedule. To date, uptake is 44.1%. Currently 70% of New Zealanders can access fibre.
No AirPower for Apple at this point
A year after buying New Zealand wireless charging company PowerbyProxi, Apple is apparently no closer to launching a consumer product on the market, despite announcing it would in 2018.
