Spark Sport secures NZ hockey streaming rights

Hockey has joined the Rugby World Cup, English Premier League football and Formula One racing at Spark Sport.

The telco has secured all rights for New Zealand men’s and women’s international hockey games from next year until 2022. This includes the Hockey World Cup and Olympic qualifying games. It will also feature the new FIH Pro League, a professional tournament running in the first half of 2019.

When the games start early next year, they will initially be broadcast on free-to-air TVNZ 2. Once Spark’s streaming service goes live, coverage will move, becoming a Spark exclusive.

Hockey streaming a departure

The hockey deal marks a departure for Spark, as it will be the host broadcaster and producer for all games played in New Zealand. This means it will work in partnership with NEP, an Australian production company.

Meanwhile, Spark says it will use streaming technology from iStreamPlanet to deliver its sports content. iStreamPlanet, a US-based company and part of the Warner Media organisation, streams major sports events in the US, including American football and the Olympics.

David Chalmers, Spark CFO and the executive responsible for Spark Sport, says the company sought a provider capable of supporting a large number of concurrent users while maintaining a high-quality viewing experience.

iStreamPlanet will provide most of Spark Sport’s technical infrastructure, including video encoding and distribution, user authentication, subscription management and billing. It will also handle app development.

Spark says it will announce more sports rights deals in the coming weeks. The company has yet to reveal pricing for its sports packages.

Vodafone confirms IPO, puts 5G on hold

In an interview with BusinessDesk’s Nikki Mandow Vodafone chief executive Jason Paris confirmed his company will return to a stock market float. It is aiming for an initial public offering in 2020.

There may be job cuts to help get the business into shape for the float. Paris also says Vodafone has not plans to follow Spark’s strategy of buying rights to media content.

Paris told Mandow he plans to move customers from copper to fibre broadband by the end of next year. He also says Vodafone will let Spark take the lead on moving to 5G mobile.

Spark launched kid-tracking wrist phone

Spark has launched Spacetalk a $400 simple wrist phone that it says will let parents and younger children stay in touch. Spacetalk has built-in GPS so that parents can check on a child's location when separated or when coming home from school.

Parents can manage the device from their own phones using an $7 a month subscription app. There is also an $8 a month pay-as-you-go phone plan to go with Spacetalk.

Trustpower posts half-year profit

Power and broadband retailer Trustpower reported a net profit of $65 million for the six months to September. Despite higher revenues of $512 mllion, the profit was down on the same time last year due to rising expenses.

Broadband remains central to the company's strategy. Chief executive Vince Hawksworth says: "Our numbers are also telling us that customers are more satisfied and less likely to leave when they purchase more than just electricity from us".

Vodafone to sell iPad Pro

Vodafone says it will sell Apple’s iPad Pro through its website and branded stores. The device, which comes in versions with 11 and 12.9 inch screens can include a SIM card. Prices start from $800.