ComCom trims Chorus spending ambition
Commerce Commission waves through $1.7b of Chorus' planned expenditure, holds back $172m
The Commerce Commission has given Chorus the green light to invest $1.7 billion over the next four years after cutting $172 million from the fibre company’s submitted plan. It says it disallowed spending that would have “flowed through to price increases for consumers”.
Chorus had earlier proposed spending of $1.9 billion over the next four years of the regulatory period that runs from 2025-2028.
That figure had already been pared back from the company’s original position which earmarked $190 million for network expansion. The company has not shelved those expansion plans but will move forward on a case-by-case basic with a series of individual capital expenditure proposals.
The $1.7 figure that features in the Commerce Commission’s final expenditure decision comes in at eight percent or $128 million more than the draft decision and $173 or nine percent before Chorus’ proposal.
Capital expenditure
Chorus’ expenditure breaks down as $1.1 billion capital expenditure and $790 million operating expenditure. The capex allowance is $14 million higher than the amount in the draft decision, barely a rounding error. The draft decision was for operating expenditure of $691 million.
Telecommunications Commissioner, Tristan Gilbertson says:
“We want to see ongoing investment in world-class infrastructure but are conscious that any expenditure we approve ultimately flows through to the prices Kiwi consumers pay for fibre services.”
Mr Gilbertson said that Chorus has provided further evidence to satisfy the Commission that expenditure of $1.722 billion is prudent and efficient.
In the wake of last year’s extreme weather events, Gilbertson says resilient infrastructure was a key consideration.
One New Zealand tables sustainability report
One New Zealand says its key sustainability achievements in the past year include a 24 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
The reduction is a highlight in the company’s 2024 Sustainability Report covering the year to March 2024. One NZ also clocked a 2 point increase in our independent sustainability benchmarking score to 73 from 61 in 2023. The benchmark is measured by Netherlands-based GRESB.
Nicky Preston, head of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at One NZ says: “In August 2023, we refreshed our approach to ESG (Environmental, social, and governance) when we launched our current sustainability kaupapa, further defining our current strategy and goals, incorporating te ao Māori values and principles.
“The report outlines our efforts to reduce the intensity of our carbon emissions and increase our use of renewable energy, as well as support our customers and help enable decarbonisation within New Zealand via technology.
One NZ’s sustainability report also covers the company’s work on social sustainability and corporate philanthropy through the registered charity, Te Rourou, One Aotearoa Foundation. During the year more it donated $3.2 million to reduce youth disadvantage.
Palmerston North’s Advantage adds enterprise satellite coverage
Palmerston North-based business technology service provider Advantage says it is bringing enterprise-grade satellite connectivity to New Zealand. The company is working with Perth-based Sat.One, which is the Australia and New Zealand distributor for Eutalsat OneWeb, a LEOsat broadband service provider.
Advantage says it will recommend Sat.One connectivity as part of solutions delivered to its customers.
Unlike SpaceX’s Starlink, which is focused on direct-selling satellite broadband to residential and small business customers, Eutalsat OneWeb works with resellers and is primarily targeting enterprise and government customers, including defence applications. It also sells wholesale services to phone companies.
Brad Pearpoint, Advantage managing director, says his business’s goal is to offer stable connectivity anywhere in New Zealand with service level guarantees. He says Sat.One differs from competitors because its connectivity options are specifically designed for business use and supplied with associated support and assurances.
Full redundancy, independence
Advantage says this approach has two main user cases in New Zealand. The first is for those who need a fully redundant link, independent of any terrestrial network. Pearpoint says: “When Hurricane Gabrielle hit Gisborne, the cellular and fibre networks went down, leaving those areas stranded from a connectivity point of view. With Sat.One as a failover, organisations in the region would have maintained their communications.”
The second use case is for rural connectivity. Pearpoint says: “Our primary industries are among the biggest export earners and comprise 7 percent of GDP. With better connectivity, the full power of information technology is put within the reach of every Kiwi business – whether in Auckland, or out in Muzzle Station”.
Sat.One offers what it calls its “Resilient” service. This pulls on the resources of the multiple satellite constellation services within the company’s portfolio. This gives customers an ‘inter-constellation’ failover for true redundancy where critical applications demand it.
One New Zealand says nationwide satellite coverage on track
One New Zealand says its satellite partner SpaceX now has 100 Starlink direct-to-cell satellites in orbit. This means the telco’s advertised promise to offer full coverage across the nation by the year end is on track.
When it switches on the service will provide coverage on certain 4G VoLTE mobile devices that have line of sight to the sky. It will also work up to 12 nautical miles, about 22 km, out to sea.
There is no word yet about what the service will cost.
Sponsorship caution puts Nethui on hold
InternetNZ says it has postponed this year’s NetHui. The event was due to take place in Wellington at the start of October.
In a newsletter to InternetNZ members, chief executive Vivien Maidaborn says: “Feedback from sponsors and NetHui supporters is that this year has been a tough year for any additional expenditure.”
In other news...
Telco earnings preview - and a look ahead for Spark, One NZ, and Chorus
At the NZ Herald Chris Keall says Spark has “tempered” expectations ahead of next week’s full year result. He reports that analysts expect Chorus’s result, also due next week, will be “uneventful”.
Network upgrades, StarLink support Kawerau District Council Access4 rollout
Rob O’Neill reports on BayCom using StarLink when it rolled out Access4’s cloud-based voice platform for Kawerau District Council:
The modernisation of the council’s legacy telephony system had been a priority when the Covid-19 pandemic struck. However, ageing copper-based telco infrastructure and inconsistent mobile coverage created doubts about the feasibility of such an upgrade.
“The need to improve the telephony infrastructure became even clearer following a series of high-rainfall events in 2022 and 2023,” said Andrew Bluett, information services manager at the council, which serves approximately 2,700 residential and 250 commercial and industrial ratepayers as well as rural and lifestyle properties.
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Systems Like Starlink Cause Environmental Harm Regulators Didn’t Prepare For
The sheer scale of modern low earth orbit satellite deployments have major implications for the environment. At TechDirt Karl Bode found chemicals released as satellites burn up on re-entry harm the ozone layer.
Numerous companies, most notably Elon Musk’s Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, are working on launching tens of thousands of small LEO satellites in the coming years. A new report by U.S. PIRG adds to concerns that these launches haven’t been thought through environmentally, noting that the disposable nature of such satellites means 29 tons of satellites will re-enter our atmosphere every day at peak.
CommsDay: AST SpaceMobile promises 10x performance improvement, coming global coverage
No link.
AST SpaceMobile is promising up to 10x improvements for its second generation direct-to-cell satellites as well as expanded coverage beyond its initial footprint over the US. While the firm’s first batch of five commercial satellites, dubbed Block 1, will only launch on a Falcon 9 mission in September, AST CEO Abel Avellan said the company has already started production of its second generation Block 2 satellites, which will eventually feature an in-house developed application-specific integrated circuit chip that delivers a major boost in processing.
As TwitterX slowly sinks, banks are sweating bullets over loans to Musk
The front page blurb for Juha Saarinen’s story captures its message succinctly:
Elon Musk demonstrates how not to run a social media company
Member discussion