Spark recall, fibre boom and 5G spectrum fight

Spark faces a bill of more than $1 million as it asks fixed wireless home phone customers to return their power back-up hardware. The company went public with the recall on Saturday. More than 14,000 customers are affected.

The recall comes after a customer reported their unit had overheated with smoke merging from the device.

After investigating the fault, Spark said it found "wiring inconsistencies" in a handful of devices that it tested. The company recalled the products because they are a potential fire risk.

Power back up hardware

The power back-up hardware is part of a kit that was sent unsolicited to customers Spark wanted to move off the copper network and on to its wireless service. Spark targeted customers who previously only had a voice landline service without broadband. These are mainly older people.

In some cases these customers were told by Spark service agents that copper network was closing and they needed to move onto wireless. This is not the case.

Customers were also sent suitable handsets. While these will work without the back-up power supply, the units were only to cover customers during power cuts, some will now be returning to the copper network.

Record fibre demand as Rugby World Cup looms

Chorus say it completed a record number of fibre connections for a single month, as the nation prepared for the first streaming Rugby World Cup. July say 33,000 connection orders, with around 26,000 completed. This beats June's 27,000 orders and 22,000 connections.

Despite the high demand, the time for an install has dropped. Six months ago it took 10 business days to get connected, in July it was down to seven.

Hands off our spectrum warn rural wisps as 5G muscles in

New Zealand's big mobile carriers are pressuring the government to sell them spectrum currently used for rural broadband says Wispa, the wireless internet service providers association.

Wispa chairman Mike Smith says; "some of the spectrum the mobile companies are trying to claim is already used commercially by about 30 regional wisps, who collectively service many tens of thousands of rural customers."

Many of the homes and businesses serviced by wisps have no alternative ways of getting broadband.

Vodafone updates streaming TV puck, broadens reach

An updated version of Vodafone TV launches next month. When it arrives it will be available to anyone, not just Vodafone customers.

The new Vodafone TV 'puck' turns any TV into a smart TV. It allows viewers to record and rewind material from free-to-air broadcasters and Sky TV for three days after the show original airs. The $180 device comes preloaded with apps for the most popular channels including TVNZ, Three and Netflix. It will also support Spark's Lightbox.

Rural schools to get free Rugby World Cup

Spark says it has registered 150 rural schools who will be able to stream Rugby World Cup games at no charge. The move aims to close the digital divide which could see people in more remote parts of the country miss out on coverage. The fibre-in-schools programme means almost every school now has a good internet connection so this is the easiest way to make sure no one is left behind.

Symposium charts digital convergence

Among other things, the first Tuanz Digital Convergence Symposium highlighted the stark contrast between media strategies at New Zealand's two largest telcos. While Spark is building a content catalogue, Vodafone is content to aggregate other people's media.

Meanwhile even the concept of traditional media is under threat from new services like Twitch, where viewers can watch professionals play online games. It's a complex and shifting landscape that's going to be fascinating to watch.