Paris to Vodafone as Stanners steps down

Russell Stanners will step down as Vodafone CEO at the end of October. He will replaced by Jason Paris who, until late last year, headed Spark New Zealand's home and mobile business unit.

Stanners has been with Vodafone for 17 years and ran the business for the last 14 years. He joined the company as the enterprise director in 2002.

During Stanners' time with Vodafone the global business moved from being a consumer mobile phone specialist to selling a broader range of digital technology services to consumers and business customers. The local operation followed the same basic game plan.

TelstraClear acquisition changed Vodafone

In New Zealand the move was accelerated in 2012 when Vodafone acquired TelstraClear. Stanners was also in charge when Vodafone acquired internet service provider ihug in 2006. Other acquisitions during Stanners term include WorldxChange and Farmside. The latter was part of a strategy to woo rural customers after Vodafone won goverment subsidised rural broadband initiative contracts.

Last year Vodafone failed to complete a merger with Sky TV. The deal was turned down by the Commerce Commission.

While Vodafone has long been the largest mobile operator in New Zealand with around 2.3 million connections it has lost market share in recent years to 2degrees and Spark. The company has gone from being one of the best performing Vodafone subsidiaries to something of an also-ran. Late last year Stanners was involved in attempts to float the business, but this has been put on hold.

Significant contribution

A media statement from Vodafone regional CEO for AMAP Vivek Badrinath said: “I would like to sincerely thank Russell for his significant contributions to our business during his impressive career at Vodafone".

Stanners says it will be business as usual at Vodafone until he leaves in October. “It’s been an incredible journey and the time has come for me to step down from my role as Vodafone NZ CEO. I’m committed to leading our great team until October and beyond that, I wish the company all the best as it enters a new era,” he said.

Paris will take over the reins just days after his Spark non-compete period expires. He left Spark to take a regional role at Vodafone after six years with New Zealand's largest telco. He was responsible for the company's rebranding in 2014.

Spark asks 2000 to sign new Agile contracts

Spark has given 2000 staff one week to sign new employment contracts or leave the company. Workers are being asked to agree to a new way of working based on the Agile approach popularised by software development teams.

The move affects about 40 percent of Spark employees.

New contracts are part of a wide-ranging restructure which is expected to see hundreds of workers leave the company. Spark says it expects to lose about one-fifth of its workforce, this would be roughly 1000 employees.

Spark says the new contracts don't alter people's pay or hours of work, but will ask employees to change job titles and roles. It also affects how they are organised.

Agile is a way of organising workers into more informal groups which spend time on focusing on flexibility and implementing smaller, quicker changes as opposed to taking part in large open-ended projects.

Tuanz pushes rural connectivity

Tuanz, the telecommunications users organisation says it wants to stay focused on improvements to rural connectivity. Next week Tuanz will hold its annual Rural Connectivity Symposium at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on June 26.

Craig Young, Tuanz CEO, says: “While last week’s news that the Government has successfully brought forward the completion date of the latest round of the rural broadband initiative is welcome, we have yet to see the detail around what will be delivered and by when.

"Technology continues to develop at a fast pace and developments in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) provide tremendous opportunities for rural NZ in improving farm productivity, compliance and general lifestyle improvements.”

Kordia to build SD-Wise for Wise Group

Kordia is to build a 54-site software defined wide area network for the Wide Group, a mental health and wellbeing services provider. The network will use Cisco Meraki equipment.

Kordia says the network will simplify the management and operation of Wise Group’s wide area network, halve its wide area networking costs and increase the overall flexibility, performance and capabilities of its internet-based applications and services.

AT&T, Time Warner merger is on

New Zealand's Commerce Commission halted the merger between Vodafone and Sky TV, but the US regulators couldn't stop giants AT&T and Time Warner from tying the knot. The deal was cleared by a Federal Court judge after the Justice Department attempted to block the merger arguing it would reduce competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.