One NZ extends IoT footprint with Starlink

Carrier claims another global first

One New Zealand has deepened its relationship with SpaceX’s Starlink by introducing a Satellite IoT service extending coverage into areas that are beyond Earth-based networks. It piggybacks off of Starlink’s direct to cell technology.

The company’s chief enterprise director Mike Purchases says One NZ’s Satellite IoT is another “global first”.

He says: “We now offer coverage for IoT devices across all of New Zealand, including the 40 percent that doesn’t have traditional cell tower coverage”.

Purchase says there is no need for expensive IoT hardware: customers can use off-the-shelf CAT-1 IoT devices. While connected devices are in 4G cell tower range they use everyday mobile data. When out of reach they automatically switch over to One NZ Satellite, assuming they have line of sight to the sky.

Meanwhile Purchase says One NZ’s satellite service continues to improve six months after it was launched at the end of 2024.

“Since our launch, our partner Starlink has continued launching satellites at pace - there are now more than 600 in the sky, meaning that the capacity has doubled. The availability has also dramatically improved, reducing the time it takes to send and receive SMS and now for our IoT customers, data as well.

NZ Compare says Spark price rise behind traffic surge

Spark’s recent broadband price increase saw traffic spike at the comparison site NZ Compare, an indication thousands of customers immediately looked online for cheaper broadband alternatives.

NZ Compare CEO Gavin Male says his site experienced its highest ever weekly traffic.

He says: “We believe the majority of customers received their email comms from Spark, around June 12. Our broadband site then saw an 'anomaly' in Google Analytics with a spike in users of +82.9 percent compared with the norm”.

Male says the usual pattern after a spike like this is for traffic to stay elevated for a few weeks. That then shows up with people signing for new plans through the site.

NZ Compare doesn’t collect data on whether a customer is a new account or a transfer which means it can’t tell if someone switches from Spark.

Analysis: Spark facing price resistance
Male doesn’t say so, but given that the overwhelming majority of New Zealanders already have a broadband plan, it’s reasonable to assume a sizeable number of those visiting his site are, at least, considering a change of service provider.

This underlines the problem Spark faces. It is one of the most expensive brands selling a service that is largely undifferentiated. Customers are learning that, bundled offers aside, one company’s fibre broadband is the same as another’s. The carrier has consistently lost broadband market share in recent years. Raising prices out of step with the rest of the market is only going to hasten its decline.

Tuatahi First Fibre renews Ventia agreement

Tuatahi First Fibre says it has signed a new agreement with Ventia, the infrastructure management business which starts on July 1.

Under the new $110 million five-year agreement, Ventia is Tuatahi’s primary service delivery partner with responsibility for network build, customer connections and maintenance of the company’s fibre network.

The pair have had a relationship since the original nationwide UFB fibre build began in 2011.

Tuatahi CEO John Hanna say: “As demand for reliable, high-speed broadband continues to grow, we’re confident this partnership will help us scale effectively, respond quickly, and maintain high performance across our network.”

As well as working with Tuatahi, Australia-based Ventia provides fibre network services for Chorus and for Australia’s NBN network. An infographic on the company’s website says it has delivered fibre access to four million premises in New Zealand and Australia.

TCF starts Scam Prevention Code makeover

The New Zealand Telecommunications Forum says it is reviewing its Scam Prevention Code. The goal is to check it remains relevant and fit for purpose. A new code will include the anti-scam initiatives being used today by carriers.

Feedback from a ministerial roundtable set up to coordinate industry, law enforcement and government anti-scam activity will form the review’s focus. There will also be work on consumer education and reporting mechanisms.

TCF CEO Paul Brislen says scams are becoming more sophisticated and the impacts on New Zealanders are increasing: “This review will ensure we maintain a high standard of technical response, while also strengthening the Code's accessibility and relevance to consumers.”

Express Connect sees Chorus speed data centre links

“We now understand the needs of the data centre market better and we are taking a different, fresh approach with Express Connect”, says Chorus GM of infrastructure Mike Shirley.

He says Express Connect is enterprise-grade fibre; the first of a number of initiatives Chorus has in the pipeline to improve data centre connectivity.

A new connection can be configured in as little as four hours. Express Connect is provisioned remotely without the need for additional equipment, further physical installation or an on-site technician.

The first site to support Express Connect is Datacentre220 in Queen Street, central Auckland where it is already live. Chorus plans to roll it out to a further 20 data centres over the next year.

One New Zealand tops Umlaut benchmark for fourth year

Accenture’s umlaut telco benchmark unit has awarded One New Zealand its fourth consecutive ‘best in test’. It says the carrier came top in data, voice and reliability and earned a score of 852 out of a possible 1000. 2degrees scored 789 and Spark scored 787.

Umlaut says it measures 5G phone voice and data performance by driving from major metropolitan areas to smaller cities along the connecting roads.

A map on the report - see link below - shows the testing took place along a North Island route from Auckland to Wellington via Hamilton, New Plymouth and Whanganui with a side trip to Tauranga. For the South Island the test drove between Christchurch and Dunedin.

The company also collects what it calls ‘crowdsourced’ data.

Umlaut’s benchmark contrasts significantly with the OpenSignal reliability report from September 2024.

Digital Island to sell customer-experience-as-a-service technology

Newly independent Digital Island is to sell Verint’s contact centre as a service technology in New Zealand. Verint specialises in customer experience automation and integrating AI. Until March of this year Digital Island was a Spark subsidiary and was the first business unit to be divested during the current programme. The cloud communications and contact centre business is now privately held.

In other news...

Spark NZ Broadband prices increased, but why?
Despite the headline, Eva Gallot at Stuff, goes on to look at what the telcos main rivals are doing about broadband price rises. Spark’s answer to her question is that the company faces higher operating costs. Which sounds plausible, but surely Sparks competitors face the same increases?

One NZ upgrade causes internet outages in Auckland, Northland
There’s no byline on this story from RNZ. The outage was widespread but short-lived.

‌UK ‘woefully’ unprepared for Chinese and Russian undersea cable sabotage, says report
The most alarming aspect of Patrick Wintour’s story at the Guardian is that the UK has a far greater diversity of cables than New Zealand. We’re equally vulnerable to attack but with only four cable networks from three operating companies we would be a much easier target for someone wanting to flex their muscles this way.