Network readiness as NCEA moves online

In Download Weekly August 14, 2020

• School network can get a pre-exam check from N4L
• Fibre network traffic surges as Auckland goes into lockdown.
• The Commerce Commission thinks about changing the way it calculates the losses fibre companies made.,
• Sky TV sells its outdoor broadcast unit..

N4L offers to check school networks before exams

Network for Learning is offering to check schools' internet in readiness for the exam season. The idea is to give students the best experience and to protect their safety when taking online exams.

The offer is free to all schools. N4L says it has been taken up by more than 300. The Crown agency is working with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

This year two-thirds of NCEA exams can be taken online. Earlier this year the Education Ministry boosted funding for online exams as part of its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health check

N4L says the 'health check' will assess exam room speeds and security. It will look for dead spots without connectivity and make sure a school's wireless network is up to the job.

Last year N4L says it helped a school that was under an online attack to continue with a digital exam.

Security remains a key focus. N4L's check will advise schools on how to stop students from using non-authorised websites. It will also work to stop outsiders from tampering with systems.

N4L CEO Larrie Moore says: “Giving schools the confidence their internet will work properly, is protected from outside intruders, and is set up to stop students going where they shouldn’t is crucial to fostering an environment where students are able to focus on their exams so they can do their best on the big day.”

Chorus data traffic surges during Auckland lockdown

Chorus data traffic hit 1.49Tbps at noon Tuesday as Auckland entered another Covid-19 lockdown. Many employees were sent home to work online. The peak was 37 percent higher than on Monday, but behind levels in March where noon traffic would pass 2Tbps.

The evening peak traffic was 2.43Tbps which the company says is the normal range. Chorus says there was no congestion on the network and the peak was well below capacity.

ComCom to consult on fibre losses

The Commerce Commission has started consulting on possible changes to the way it calculates losses fibre companies made building the UFB network. This will have an effect on regulated fibre prices after January 2022.

The commission plans to move to a discounted cash flow approach, replacing the building blocks method it previously proposed.

Telecommunications commissioner Tristan Gilbertson says change on its own should deliver “broadly similar” outcomes. He says the commission prefers the new approach because it is easier to understand and familiar to investment analysts.

Another change covers the way investments made before the UFB started are included in calculations.

Sky sells Outside Broadcast unit, confirms guidance

Sky has sold its outside broadcast business to NEP. The unit is responsible for covering sports events. NEP is an international outside broadcasting business which entered New Zealand two years ago. Many Sky staff will transfer to NEP and the company has a ten year agreement to be Sky's production partner.

The deal comes as Sky confirmed its revised financial guidance for the recent year. In May Sky dropped its earlier revenue forecast to between $730 and $750 million. It expects EBITDA in the range of $170 to $190 million.

Worldwide public cloud market up 37 percent in 2019

Analyst company Gartner days the IaaS (infrastructure as a service) market grew 37.3 percent in 2019. It took revenues of US$44.5 billion. Amazon Web Services remains the number one company. It has a 45 percent share of the total. Microsoft, Alibaba, Google and Tencent follow in that order. The top five IaaS companies account for 80 percent of the total market.

Commsday says Nokia wants Australia to adopt RCG-like blackspot model

A report in CommsDay says Nokia wants Australia's federal government to adopt a shared infrastructure model similar to New Zealand's RCG programme. The Rural Connectivity Group is a joint venture between Vodafone, Spark and 2degrees that has a partnership with Crown Infrastructure Partners.