Download Weekly: Hawaiki submarine cable ready to roll
Hawaiki says it is on track to begin laying its submarine cable in October. The cable will link New Zealand and Australia with the US mainland via Hawaii and American Samoa. The company says the 14,000km fibre cable has been made is now being loaded onto two ships: CS Global Sentinel and CS Responder.
Elsewhere Hawaiki has completed the drilling needed for cable landings in Pacific City, Oregon and Sydney. The company says installation permits for Australia, New Zealand and Oregon are in hand.
Hawaiki has completed land duct routes in Northland and in Sydney. The New Zealand cable station is being constructed and terminal equipment is being installed in Australia. The laying, installation and building work should all be completed by the middle of next year.
Hawaiki CEO Remi Galasso says: “Considering the scope of the project, the progress to date has been staggering. It is a thrill to reach the installation phase and know that we will soon be ready to light the system and deliver much needed capacity to the region.”
Spark meets mobile data demand with new EPC node
Spark New Zealand has added a third Evolved Packet Core node to its mobile network. It says this will enable more capacity and greater resilience.
The new EPC node is Porirua. Spark says it complements those already in Auckland and Christchurch. The new node will also give the company flexibility to shift and reroute traffic, something that would be especially useful in the event of a natural disaster or an emergency.
It will also help as the company rolls out 4.5G services and expands its fixed wireless broadband capacity.
A huge amount of data already passes through Spark’s mobile network. It says customers used 34 petabytes — 1000 terabytes — in the first eight months of 2017. This compares to 6.9 petabytes in the same period a year earlier. That’s a 500 percent increase.
Colin Brown, Spark Networks general manager, say the company is seeing more people stay on its network for longer and download more data. He says: “The installation of this third node is important because our customers expect an ‘always on’ service”.
Spark has been pushing mobile technology upgrades harder than its rivals in recent months. It talks often about its plans to move to 5G and already has LTE-Advanced 4.5G services at a number of sites. It plans to roll out another 30 or so over the next year.
Three quarters of New Zealanders harassed online
Symantec says there has been a jump in the number of New Zealanders reporting online harassment. The company says 73 percent reported online harassment in 2017 compared with 54 percent in 2016.
The company surveys people's experience of unwanted conflict, trolling, character assassinations, cyberbullying, sexual harassment and threats of physical violence.
It says there has been an across the board increase in harassment. However, older people have seen the most significant rise. People in the over 40 age group have seen a rise in reports from 44 percent last year to 67 percent this year.
Under 30s are the most targeted with 81 percent reporting online harassment. They are also more likely to be on the wrong end of the more serious forms of online abuse including bullying, stalking and sexual harassment.
More than half of all young New Zealanders have been threatened with physical violence. It is particularly severe for people in minority groups including physically and mentally disabled people, those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transexual and people who are overweight.
2degrees adds Australian business roaming
2degrees top two business plans now include Australian roaming as standard. Aussie Carry On allows customers to make voice calls, send texts and use data from their NZ plans while in Australia. There is no need to buy extra packs.
Sign of the times as Sky closes Fatso
The Dominion Post reports that Sky Television is closing its Fatso DVD rental business in November. The company says the service which loans DVD sent through the post is uneconomic with only 10,000 users. The company’s discs will be donated to schools and hospitals. Customers will be offered three month’s half-price access to Sky’s Neon internet television service.
Tomizone buys Ironman
Tomizone is to buy Ironman Group. The deal has an estimated value of around $3.8 million.
Ironman is a managed closed-circuit TV, point of sale and monitored alarms business. It has 4000 customers paying monthly subscriptions in New Zealand and there are plans to extend the business to Australia.
The deal harks back to Tomizone's managed wi-fi services roots. Ironman's customers include medical centres, stadiums, sports clubs and hospitality outlets — all potential wi-fi hotspots.
Vodafone Retail makes game from health and safety training
Vodafone Retails' health and safety induction uses an interactive video. Omnicron Productions developed the video. It does away with the normal health and safety training. Instead it turns the process of learning company policies into a game.
Since switching to the gamified video Vodafone has reduced the time taken for employee induction by 70 percent.