UFB uptake hits 44% as stage one build nears completion

Ultra-Fast Broadband uptake is now 44 percent across the nation. In Waiuku, Tauranga, Nelson, Hamilton, Dunedin, Whangarei and Blenheim uptake is now above 50 percent.

The numbers come from the recent quarterly broadband deployment update published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Communications minister Kris Faafoi says: “This quarter we have added a further 73,649 users able to connect, with 55,513 users choosing to take up a UFB connection. This brings total number of people connected to UFB to 605,345 from a possible 1,373,467."

Above expectations

Fibre uptake is well above initial expectations. When the UFB project was first planned around a decade ago, government officials expected fibre uptake would reach around 30 percent by 2018. Many industry insiders were more pessimistic at the time. Indeed, the rational for the government to get involved was that the market was in no hurry to invest in a next generation network.

That was before legitimate, affordable streaming video services like Netflix, Lightbox and Neon appeared. If you look at graphs showing long-term fibre uptake trends you can see clear upward movement as the main streaming businesses began operation.

Further impetus has come from Spark's plan to deliver streaming coverage of next years Rugby World Cup. Sports fans can also now buy an English Premier League service and Sky's FanPass.

UFB network extended

The UFB project has been extended, in part because of the enthusiastic uptake in the first areas to be connected. By the time the second phase of UFB completes in 2022 around 87 percent of the population will have access to fibre.

The deployment update says the UFB project is now 75 percent complete. Seven out of ten New Zealanders are now able to connect to fibre. The total number of people connected to fibre has increased 10 percent since March.

Faafoi says the aim now is to close the digital divide so all New Zealanders who want an internet connection can have one.

Cert: Online security threat at new high

The latest threat report from New Zealand's Computer Emergency Response Team shows 736 cyber security incidents. That's the largest number reported in a single quarter. Of these, 112 incidents were referred to the police. None were passed on to the National Cyber Security Centre or Department of Internal Affairs.

There were 455 reported phishing attacks in the three months to June. This compares with 196 in the March quarter. Of these 337 attacks were related to the financial services sector. Cert says this increase is in part down to a better working relationship with the sector.

Cert puts the value of direct losses at $2.2 million during the quarter. Many of the people affected are older. Four attacks accounted for three quarters of the losses.

Commerce Commission investigates Vodafone unlimited plan

The Commerce Commission confirmed to the New Zealand Herald that it is investigating Vodafone's unlimited mobile plan. All three mobile carriers now offer 'unlimited' plans which, despite the name, come with limits in the small print.

According to the Herald story, the other carriers are not being investigated. The issue with Vodafone is that it may not have made the restrictions prominent enough in its advertising.

Sky TV 's UFB challenge

Sky TV CEO John Fellet used his companies annual report to respond to critics who say his company has not moved fast enough to meet the challenge from fibre.

He says it isn't as simple as switching off satellite delivery and moving to the internet. Apart from anything else as many as 30 percent of Sky's customers are not yet connected to fibre.

In his letter to shareholders Fellet points out some shortcomings of sports events delivered by the internet including failure with some major events. He also says online viewer numbers are often overstated. Elsewhere he says the failed Vodafone merger slowed his company's ability to innovate.

Fellet says Sky has invested in a new internet delivery platform that will let customers get to the content they want faster and on a device of their choosing.

Vodafone to revive float plan

A Financial Times report, quotes the incoming chief executive of Vodafone's UK-based parent saying a float of the New Zealand operation is now likely to take place in 2019.

The company pulled the plug on an attempt to float the company earlier this following a road show which saw senior managers promote the business to potential investors. At the time the company said it would reconsider a float if the market conditions were right.

Spark, Vodafone announce new iPhone prices, availability

Spark and Vodafone will start selling Apple's new iPhones from today. Both companies will offer the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the Apple Watch Series 4 immediately. The iPhone XR will arrive later this year and will be available to pre order.

Prices for the iPhone XS start at $1900 for a model with 64GB of storage. The 256 GB version is $2200 and there's a 512 GB version for $2600. The larger screen iPhone XS Max starts at $2100. The 256 GB and 512 GB options are $2400 and $2800. Both carriers will offer the phone on plans.

Vodafone gains government TaaS certification

Vodafone says the Department of Internal Affairs has awarded security certification for a number of the company's services that it offers to government. It sells these services under the Ready Government umbrella.

Certification will help the company bid for government telecommunications-as-a-service business. Ken Tunnicliffe, Vodafone's enterprise director, says the company now aims to get security certification for the rest of its portfolio.