Infratil considering Vodafone buy

NZX trading in Infratil was halted this morning. The company confirmed it is negotiating with Vodafone Group PLC over a possible acquisition of Vodafone New Zealand.

In a statement to the NZX Infratil says "As those discussions are ongoing and incomplete, and may not result in a transaction occurring, Infratil is not currently in a position to make a substantive announcement regarding the potential outcome.

"We will continue to update the market as material developments unfold."

Infratil already in telecoms

Infratil, a New Zealand based infrastructure investment company. It already has a substantial stake in the telecommunications sector. Infratil owns a fraction over 50 percent of Trustpower which is now the fourth largest internet service provider.

News reports suggest Infratil is working with Brookfield, a Canadian investment company, on the Vodafone deal.

Meanwhile Vodafone has been preparing its business to list on the NZX some time in the next 18 months. Much of the focus in recent months has been on trimming costs including reducing staff numbers

Kordia adds Express Route to Azure cloud services

Kordia has opened a New Zealand Azure ExpressRoute point of presence in Auckland. The new service means New Zealand customers using Microsoft's Azure cloud services will have faster, more secure and more reliable connections.

The Auckland point of presence links local users direct to Microsoft's international network. It connects Azure data centres and co-located infrastructure as well as on-premise installations. There are multiple deployment models, including IP VPN, point-to- point Ethernet or a virtual cross-connection.

Murray Goodman, Kordia's head of product, says: “While we are fortunate to have some of the world’s best internet connectivity, the performance of cloud computing services is always tied to the performance of the network.

"The direct connections now enabled by Azure ExpressRoute through Kordia bypasses the public internet and makes cloud performance fast, reliable and private."

Chorus network breaks records over Easter

Chorus reports monthly average data use hit 216GB in April. Easter Monday was the busiest day to date with the network carrying almost 12 million GB of data. Traffic peaked on Wednesday April 17 at 9:20 in the evening with 1.93 Tbps. Chorus network strategy manager Kurt Rodgers says the school holidays and the Easter break are responsible for the extra demand.

Spark Spark starts Rugby World Cup streaming sales

Spark Sport's Rugby World Cup Tournament Pass has gone on sale. While many games will be shown on free-to-air television, fans buying the pass will be able to see all 48 games both live and on-demand. The promotional 'early bird' price for a pass is $60 until the end of May. Spark says pubs and clubs will pay the same price as individuals.

InternetNZ wants government money to back digital report

InternetNZ gave a tick to the Digital Inclusion Blueprint launched last week by government digital services minister Megan Woods. Yet CEO Jordan Carter says he would like to see the government “put money on the table” and match its intentions with the right level of investment and measures.

Carter says New Zealand needs to fund and prioritise research and monitoring to understand what’s working and track outcomes. He says "Budget 2019 is a chance for the government to show its commitment.”

Microsoft: NZ below average for cyber attacks

The latest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report says that New Zealand has the least cyber attack risk of any of the 15 Asia Pacific countries it surveyed. Attack rates are 60 percent below the global average and 71 percent lower than the Asia-Pacific average.

Local Microsoft technology officer Russell Craig points out that lower risk does not mean no risk and he warns against complacency.

One area of risk singled out for special mention is cryptocurrency mining. While this is still low in New Zealand, the country ranks at 29 in the world as a destination for miners.