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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.
Brislen on Tech
Telephones used to be such simple things. You grabbed them by the nose and turned the dial around and lo! You could talk to someone.
Then they became terribly complicated beasts. They were portable…
Apple launch snooze fest oh hello, what's this?
It is a ritual as old as time itself (well, certainly for the past 11 years at least). The pilgrimage to the well of all things - the annual Apple announcement about some new gear.
Broadband now seen as essential service: UN
The UN's Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development has released a new report looking at how countries oversee the development of broadband, the policies that support deployment and how we all a…
Telcos mark Te wiki o te reo Māori
Rorohiko pōnaho, tātaitai, and pēne are three words learned today thanks to a new app, Kupu, launched for Te wiki o te reo Māori or Māori language week. Translated into English these words mean l…
Brislen on Tech
Three news stories this week mean we must surely give pause for a moment and reflect on what is going on with the internet.
The three stories relate to Microsoft and Facebook policing the internet.…
Collaboration key in delivering rural broadband
Where to now for rural broadband? That was the question for those attending the 2018 TUANZ Rural Connectivity Symposium in June. The organisation has just released a report of the event, which shows r…
Telco service in ComCom sights
The Commerce Commission cited Retail Telecommunications as its "top priority focus area" last week and today we found out why.
2Degrees seeks new CEO
Five years on from the terrible news that 2Degrees' CEO Eric Hertz and his wife had been killed in a plane crash, "acting" CEO Stewart Sheriff is to retire from the role later this year.
Schools doubling down on data
The nation's schools are proving voracious data users, consuming more than 12 petabytes in the first two school terms of this year. That's according to crown company Network for Learning (N4L), which …
OECD broadband stats - how NZ compares
The annual publication of OECD broadband statistics is maybe the best measurement for New Zealand's progress in terms of connectivity and broadband uptake. The stats, which include the year to Decembe…
Hawaiki goes live - brings diversity and capacity to market
After a decade of talks, planning, setbacks and struggle, the Hawaiki Cable has finally launched and is ready to provide connectivity between New Zealand and the north American continent.
Brislen on Tech
Lots going on in the telco land this week. First off, the Commerce Commission has reasserted its rights to oversee roaming into the future.
Roaming - the ability to acquire regulated access on to a…
