First NZ 5G trial networks from Spark and Vodafone

On Monday Spark held a public demonstration of 5G mobile technology outside Parliament in Wellington. Vodafone plans an Auckland demonstration event for early next week. The company says it has been trialing its own 5G connection at new headquarters at Smales Farm on Auckland's North Shore for some time.

In both cases these are early trials and are as much about increasing awareness as actual testing. After all, there are no 4.5G capable handsets available at the moment, let alone hardware able to deal with 5G. However, Huawei, which is Spark's technology partner, announced a suitable 5G chipset for handheld devices at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Another minor roadblock is that the various companies involved with the technology have yet to settle on a single 5G standard. However, this didn't stop companies racing ahead with 4G or 4.5G networks before a formal standard was settled.

And anyway, while similar public tests are underway in dozens of other countries, the hard work is still being done out of sight in laboratory-like conditions.

Awareness the focus

They feel there's a need to increase awareness, especially with government officials and lawmakers, because New Zealand carriers will not be able to offer full 5G services unless more spectrum is made available. 5G mobile offers vastly increased cellular network speeds, which requires more bandwidth and that means opening up more spectrum.

Both carriers needed to make special arrangements to get the necessary spectrum for their demonstrations.

Spark's chief operating officer Mark Beder says the company is keen to launch 5G in New Zealand as soon as spectrum becomes available.

MBIE looks for submissions

Meanwhile government officials are starting to think about 5G. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has opened a discussion document on 5G and is calling for submissions by the end of April.

Spark scored something of a publicity coup beating Vodafone to be first with a public demonstration. The company is keen to signal that it is doubling down on its investments in wireless technology.

Huawei worked with Spark on the demonstration. The two companies have been partners for the past five years. Vodafone is working with Nokia. 2degrees, which has yet to make any public noises about 5G networks is a Huawei partner.

It's unlikely there will be anything more than demonstration 5G sites in New Zealand before 2020. However, you can expect to hear a great deal about it in the coming months.

IDC: Security move centre stage in NZ

IDC’s annual review of New Zealand’s security risks notes companies have moved from protecting the perimeter. Research director Louise Francis says: “Now there is a much greater understanding that security must be embedded within all technology deployments and solutions, right from the concept stage. There is also much greater awareness that employees can provide one of the most significant security vulnerabilities to an organisation."

IDC says when it comes to mobile security, 70 percent of threats are down to the user.

2degrees ended 2017 on flat note

Writing at Stuff, Tom Pullar-Strecker reports 2degrees ended 2017 on a flat note. Pillar-Strecker was looking at financial statements posted on the Toronto stock exchange by 2degrees’ owner Trilogy International Partners.

He says: “The country's third-largest telecommunications firm grew its revenues six percent in 2017, recording revenues of US$518 million (NZ$715m), and upped its operating profit by five percent to US$83m. But it posted flat revenues for the final quarter of the year, when its operating profit slipped 17 per cent to US$20m.”

PUllar-Strecker reports Trilogy forecasts revenue growth of between five and seven percent this year together with a operating profit growth of between seven and nine percent.

Curran names advice group

Communications Minister Clare Curran named eight members of the government's Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion Advisory Group. Tech Futures Lab founder and CEO Frances Valintine will chair the group. The group can expand to 14 members. Curran says over 300 people applied to take part.

Stuff Pix official launch

Stuff, until recently known as Fairfax Media, formally took the wraps off the company's online movie hire operation. Stuff Pix lets people view movies for a one-off fee of between $1 and $7. The service is open to all comers.

At the launch the company said it may also offer content, such as long-form documentaries, made by Stuff. Another revelation is that Stuff Fibre customers will get one free movie a month.

Vodafone asks "what will you be?"

Vodafone has launched a scheme to help young people find career advice and training in digital skills. The company's “What Will You Be?” programme will operate in 18 countries including New Zealand.

Digger slows Vocus broadband

Some Orcon and Slingshot broadband customers experienced a slowdown on Wednesday after a digger in Sydney cut the Vocus fibre. The fault was corrected in hours, but for a time traffic was directed through the US.

Australia's Foxtel drops HFC

Foxtel says it will move customers off the company's HFC network. In future it will deliver pay-TV services using satellite and streaming.

CommsDay reports a Foxtel spokesperson said: "satellite is the best option for high quality video images watched on the large screens in homes and other venues. IP delivered streaming services are clearly the delivery mode of choice for individuals watching on a range of devices in and out of home."

Vodafone New Zealand's FibreX network uses HFC technology.

Half of all Poms are "Superfast"

Point Topic, a market research company, says 55 percent of UK broadband customers now have a "superfast" service. Superfast, not to be confused with Ultrafast, is defined as broadband with a speed of 30Mbps or higher. In the UK this category includes fibre to the cabinet and cable modems.