Key Telecommunications Industry Events

 

 

Key Industry EventsS

 

2000 16

January 2000

• Vodafone and Telecom released figures showing huge growth in the number of mobile phone connections in the last quarter of 1999. Vodafone’s connections grew by 35 percent in the three months to 31 December 1999 to reach 397,000 while Telecom’s mobile connections grew by 13 percent over the quarter to reach 858,000.

February 2000

• The new Government announces a Ministerial Inquiry into Telecommunications. The Inquiry is to be run by a three-person team chaired by Hugh Fletcher, the former Chief Executive of Fletcher Challenge. The Inquiry is to present a final report to Government by the end of September. The Inquiry is established to assess the regulatory regime for telecommunications, and recommend any changes.

• Vodafone and Clear announce an alliance that enables Clear to offer Vodafone mobile services to its customers.

• Austar United Communications and Telstra Corporation announce the merger of their New Zealand operations, Saturn Communications and Telstra New Zealand to form a 50:50 joint venture. The new company will be called Telstra Saturn. Telstra and Austar announce their commitment to invest more than NZ $1 billion over five years to build a broadband network.

• Compass Communications launches Freenet, New Zealand’s first free Internet Services Provider.

March 2000

• The Ministry of Economic Development commissions Ovum Pty Ltd to assess the net benefits of introducing local loop unbundling in New Zealand. The Ovum Report finds there is no compelling economic case for local loop unbundling in New Zealand, as the potential benefits are estimated to be approximately equal to the likely costs. April 2000

• i4free is launched. It resides on Clear’s network and will provide free nation-wide Internet access, email, newsgroup, search facilities and basic services to home users.

• Telecom applies call controls on i4free traffic because it argues that the rise in i4free Internet traffic is compromising the Airedale Exchange. The High Court grants an interim injunction allowing the continued operation of i4free service.

• Telstra Saturn purchases ISP, Paradise Net Limited. Paradise Net Ltd has 33,000 subscribers throughout New Zealand. Most subscribers are residential.

• Telstra Saturn signs a contract with Ericsson Communications to install a new broadband submarine cable between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The cable is expected to be operating before the end of 2001.

• The Government announces that the Commerce Act 1986 will be strengthened. As part of the changes, the phrase “dominance” in s36 of the Act will be replaced with the lower threshold of “a substantial degree of power in a market” and the word “use” to be replaced with “take advantage of”.

May 2000

• Telecom and Clear reach an agreement on the 0867 Internet number range. Internet users utilising Clear’s ISP will not pay a two-cent per minute charge for non-0867 Internet calls. In return, Clear would encourage customers to utilise the 0867 service. The agreement allows Clear and Telecom breathing space in which to renegotiate their interconnection agreement, which expires at the end of 2000.

• Telecom and Vodafone announce that they have renegotiated and renewed their interconnection agreement. Included in the terms of the agreement is a 10% reduction (to 31.5c per minute) in the interconnection price of delivering calls to mobile phones on the two networks.

• Telecom announces $38million plans to establish a new submarine cable between North and South Island. Telecom appoints Siemens as principal contractor for the project. The cable will use DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technology.

June 2000

• Telstra Saturn and ERG Group sign a contract to build an integrated telecommunications network in Christchurch. The ERG deal is part of Telstra Saturn’s $200 million investment to provide voice, data, Internet and cable TV services to businesses and residential markets in the city.

July 2000

• Telstra Saturn and Telecom announce a series of agreements on interconnection, wholesale services, a 0867 Internet traffic agreement and a pole-sharing agreement. A key feature of this agreement is the introduction of a form of “bill and keep” arrangement for local interconnection.

August 2000

• Clear announces it will spend $14million to upgrade its North Island network by employing dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) to increase capacity of the cable network.

• The Commerce Commission commences court action against Telecom alleging that Telecom contravened section 36 of the Commerce Act in introducing its 0867 package. The Commission is alleging that in introducing 0867 Telecom sought to prevent or deter competitive conduct by other telecommunications network operators and Internet service providers.

September 2000

• Clear launches Clear Wireless to provide high-speed Internet access for businesses. The service will provide speeds up to 2Mbps for sending and receiving information via the Internet.

• Clear, announces a new flat-rate access to Internet for $24.95 a month after Xtra announced that it intended to do the same. Ihug has been offering this new flat rate deal for several months.

• Telecom announces the annualised cost of the Kiwi Share Obligation was $167 million under the Government mandated methodology prescribed in the Telecommunications (Information Disclosure) Regulations 1999.

October 2000

• The Minister of Communications releases the final report from the Ministerial Inquiry into Telecommunications. The Inquiry recommends:

  • a single regulatory framework covering all electronic communication services with the establishment of the Electronic Communications Commissioner.
  • the designation (enabling pricing and access obligations to be set) of interconnection with Telecom’s fixed wire network, including data tail access and wholesaling of retail services by Telecom.
  • the specification (enabling access obligations to be set) of interconnection between all networks, carrier pre-selection from all networks, wholesaling of 2½G mobile services, roaming between compatible 2½G mobile networks, co-location of mobile cell sites and Sky Television’s conditional access system.
  • that access objectives should be applied to assess whether specification or designation of a service is desirable. The access objectives are to promote the long-term interests of existing and potential end users of electronic communications services by any or all of the following:
  • facilitating efficient competition in markets for electronic communications services;
  • promoting any-to-any connectivity to the extent that it is efficient; and
  • encouraging the efficient use of, and the efficient investment in, the infrastructure by which electronic communications services are provided.

• Telecom and Clear announce a Relationship Package. The Package incorporates agreements on interconnection and wholesale–related matters and commits both sides to a more open and commercial relationship.

• Vodafone announces that its customers send between 500,000 to one million text messages every day.

• Vodafone and Telstra Saturn announce an alliance allowing the two companies to work together to bridge the technology gaps and develop new, seamless services. The alliance will enable Telstra Saturn to deliver broadband to its customers over a wider range of access mediums by extending broadband services to reach Vodafone mobile users.

November 2000

• Telstra Saturn and Television New Zealand (TVNZ) sign a memorandum of understanding that will allow TVNZ to provide digital free to air television service and Telstra Saturn to provide a nation-wide subscription service as part of bundle of convergence services.

• First commercial traffic starts to flow across Telecom’s Southern Cross cable. The cable will mean a 120 fold increase in bandwidth capacity for New Zealand.

• The Government announces changes to the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 to confirm the coverage of utilities (including telecommunications).

December 2000

• The Government announces its response to the Ministerial Inquiry into Telecommunications. The objective of the new regime is to ensure delivery of cost efficient, timely, and innovative telecommunications services on an ongoing, fair and equitable basis to all existing and potential users. The key features of the new regime are:

  • the establishment of a Telecommunications Commissioner in the Commerce Commission with the powers to resolve disputes between industry players over key services;
  • the immediate designation (enabling pricing and access obligations to be set) of:
    • interconnection with Telecom’s fixed telephone network;
    • wholesaling of Telecom’s fixed network services; and
    • number portability, including 0800 number portability;
  • the deferred specification of fixed to mobile carrier pre-selection on Telecom’s network;
  • the provision for the Telecommunications Commissioner to make recommendations to the Minister of Communications for regulation of other services in the future; and
  • the upgrade of the Kiwi Share to provide data capability to virtually all New Zealanders (9.6kbps to 99% of residential lines and 14.4kbps to 95% of residential lines)
  • plans to establish an Information Society Initiative to facilitate a partnership between Government, industry and local communities in relation to measures that will promote the information economy in New Zealand. This includes considering issues relating to access to bandwidth in New Zealand.

• Clear announces Zfree (the largest free Internet provider) has reached 250,000 registered users. Clear suspends new registration to ensure Zfree’s quality is maintained with the network capacity currently available. Clear enters new interconnection agreement with Telecom which effectively stops / places a cap on interconnection payments where interconnection between the two networks is substantially out of balance.

• Ihug launches Ultra Lite, a new high-speed service costing $49.95 per month. Ultra Lite will deliver 256kbps to residential customers in selected regions.

 

Telecommunications Main 1998 1999 2001

Note: entire page verbatim 16