Huawei threatens exit, Spark launches Leaven, Sky expands rugby reach

Huawei threatens to leave New Zealand

A letter written by Huawei New Zealand managing director Yanek Fan to the Government Communications Security Bureau suggests the company will pull out of New Zealand if it is blocked from selling 5G network equipment. The letter was leaked to the media earlier this week.

In the letter Fan writes that it would be “arbitrary and capricious” to single out Huawei when other 5G suppliers have links to China. He notes that alternative 5G suppliers Cisco, Nokia and Ericsson all have Chinese joint ventures. Moreover the Nokia Shanghai Bell joint venture is with the Chinese government.

Fan also repeats the company’s earlier complaint about the lack of engagement from government.

It's going to cost more without Huawei

In the letter Fan quotes research showing that without Huawei in the market, it could cost local telcos between 15 and 35 percent more to roll out their 5G networks.

To date New Zealand has not formally banned Huawei from working on 5G networks. The company is banned in Australia where it still maintains a sizeable presence. The GCSB did reject Spark’s 5G rollout proposal that included Huawei equipment and know-how on the grounds it had security concerns.

It then invited Spark to work with the GCSB to mitigate the risks. Spark has yet to do this.

A Huawei pull-out will have some impact on the mobile handset market, the company is the third most popular phone brand in New Zealand. However, it is a long way behind Samsung and Apple.

Elsewhere Huawei equipment is used in some UFB fibre areas. The company’s routers are also used to connect some service providers’ customers to broadband. Both Spark and Vodafone use Huawei hardware to connect fixed wireless broadband customers.

Spark opens digital transformation business

Leaven is Spark’s new digital transformation consultancy. It aims to help organisations as they shift to new, more digital ways of working. The business will be led by Robin Cockayne who was previously CEO of Revera. The business will use intellectual property licensed from a division of HP Enterprise.

Vodafone hires Zwart

BusinessDesk reports Vodafone has appointed Lindsay Zwart to replace Ken Tunnicliffe as head the telco‘s consumer sales division. Zwart was formerly the generally manager of Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise business.

Sky buys world’s largest Rugby streaming network

New Zealand’s streaming sport sector continues to run red hot with Sky acquiring Dublin-based RugbyPass, the world’s largest online Rugby network. RugbyPass offers live streaming Rugby throughout Asia, Australia and Europe reaching 40 million people a month. It is the rights-holder for Sanzaar in 62 countries and has exclusive rights in 39 countries.