Download Weekly: Lockdown behind Farmside growth spurt
Rural broadband provider hits 10K milestone as customer numbers spike
Vodafone’s Farmside unit says it now has 10,000 RBI customers following a surge of sign-ups during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Timaru-based business says there are 15,000 customers in total including those on satellite, fixed line and fibre broadband.
Farmside reports a huge jump in data consumer on its rural wireless network. Traffic in September 2020 was 33 percent higher than the same time a year earlier.
That growth has been helped by the introduction of unlimited data bundles from midnight to midday in July. The company says customers take advantage of this to download data files and entertainment.
Jason Sharp, Farmside’s general manager says the business has been able to offer its service to more customers thanks to the Rural Connectivity Group. In September the RCG had 150 new RBI2 towers. The most recent was switched on in Tongaporutu last week.
The RCG expects to have added a total of 400 rural sites by the end of 2022.
Sharp says: “We’ve seen remote working increase in popularity and online discussion groups replace face to face gatherings. Combine this with a trend towards on-farm monitoring, agriculture sensors, cloud-based applications, and online entertainment, we can only expect that data consumption will continue to rise."
Kordia CEO Bartlett resigns
Kordia Group CEO Scott Bartlett has resigned for health reasons. Last year Bartlett was diagnosed with multiple brain tumours he returned to work in January, but has become ill again.
The company has started searching for a new CEO. In the meantime group CFO Shaun Rendall is Acting group CEO.
John Quirk, who chairs the Kordia board says Bartlett’s leadership saw Kordia evolve from its background in broadcasting and networks to become a leading provider of business technology.
Taranaki-based Our Cloud offers MVNO services
Our Cloud, a New Plymouth-based cloud and internet service provider has added mobile phones to its offering. Plans start at $30 a month. Our Cloud is a Mobile Network Virtual Operator on the Spark network.
Orcon to offer Google Nest WiFi router
New customers signing up with Orcon will get a Google Nest WiFi router. The offer does not apply to all plans. Orcon says the router can plug directly into a Chorus Optical Network terminal.
The routers will go on sale in New Zealand next week with a list price of $299.
Post election community broadcasting shake-up in prospect
A survey conducted by the recently formed Community Broadcasting Association of New Zealand suggests changes are on the way for the sector.
Association spokesperson Rex Widerstrom says; “All those who answered understood that community radio in New Zealand is far more diverse and widespread than just 12 stations, and all but NZ First supported other community stations being eligible for funding. All committed to a broad review of the sector, including community radio, to ensure New Zealanders can access local reporting and information, and communicate with one another within their own communities.”
He says community radio has an important role to play. After the Kaikoura earthquake a station began operating and provided locals with vital information.