Download Weekly: Vocus NZ business for sale

Vocus plans to sell its New Zealand business by June 2018. The local operation includes broadband, fixed-line, mobile and energy. The brands include CallPlus, Orcon, Slingshot and FX Networks. The parent company also hopes to sell what it calls non-core assets, these include datacentres in both New Zealand and Australia.

The decision was announced in Australia on Monday during a shareholder presentation.

During the presentation Vocus outlined the performance of the New Zealand business. It says the company's New Zealand broadband businesses added 3,365 customers during the first quarter of the 2018 financial year — that's July to September. At the end of the quarter it had a 16 percent share of all UFB connections.

New Zealand's number 4 telco

In all Vocus has 192,000 active broadband customers. Of these, 53,000 are on the UFB network. Vocus also revealed the average revenue per user per month is NZ$71.18. The company has 21,000 mobile customers and 4700 active energy customers. Vocus's New Zealand landline business is behind Spark or Vodafone with about 13 percent of the market.

This all makes Vocus New Zealand's fourth largest telco behind Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees. It is roughly one-tenth of the size of Spark and half the size of 2degrees in overall telecommunications revenue.

The parent company needs to sell businesses to pay off more than a billion dollars in debt. Financial advisors have told the board they could raise as much as NZ$400 million from selling the New Zealand business. That's unlikely given the lack of obvious local buyers with the wherewithal to pay the asking price.

In the last year the entire Vocus operation was in play with private equity investors — which are the most likely buyers of the New Zealand business. Both deals fell through at the due diligence stage.

Clare Curran named as communications minister

Dunedin South MP Clare Curran is the new communications minister. Her official title is minister for broadcasting, communications and digital media. She is also minister for government digital services. Curran was previously the Labour communications spokesperson.

Draft TDL numbers published

The Commerce Commission has published its draft numbers for the $50 million Telecommunications Development Levy. As in previous years Spark and Vodafone are the biggest contributors paying 35 and 26 percent respectively.

These are followed by Chorus and 2degrees. The big four players will pay more than 90 percent of the total levy. Another eleven companies will pay about eight percent of the TDL between them

New Zealand's TDL, essentially an extra tax, is paid by telcos to help subsidise investment in rural networks. Most of the money will go back to Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees who, as the Rural Connectivity Group, won the contract for bid the second phase of the Rural Broadband Initiative.

Apple buys PowerbyProxi

Apple has bought PowerbyProxi, an Auckland-based wireless charging technology company. The business originally came from a research project at Auckland University.

PowerbyProxi designs and develops high performance wireless power technology. Its designs are mainly used to charge mobile phones, rechargeable batteries and industrial devices.

In the past the company has worked with Samsung. The Korean electronics giant had invested $4 million in Powerbyproxi. Samsung owns about 10 percent of the business.

The Apple deal is shrouded in secrecy, with few details. Stuff reported an announcement from Apple early on Wednesday morning. The story included a quote from Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering Dan Riccio. He says: "We want to bring truly effortless charging to more places and more customers around the world."

NZ in worldwide top ten for broadband quality

An Ipsos looking at perceptions of broadband found New Zealand ties with Belgium for eight place out of 28 nation. Some 64 percent of New Zealand respondents said their broadband was either 'fairly good' or 'very good'. Top nation was Serbia with 74 percent describing their broadband the same way. Australia was at the bottom of the list with only 32 percent saying they have good broadband.

Vodafone offers cheaper no support broadband

Vodafone issued a new broadband price list late last week. It includes a no-frills plan: Smart Connect Broadband.

The $80 monthly plan comes with unlimited data, but support is trimmed back to online chat only. Speeds are 100Mbps on fibre and 200Mbps on Vodafone's FibreX network. There's a $10 discount for mobile customers.

A similar plan with full support, virus protection and 12 month subscription to the Neon TV service is $95. Also announced is a $50 fixed wireless broadband plan with 40GB of data.

Mobile phone prices rising

Average mobile phone prices are creeping up around the world according to research company GfK. In the third quarter of 2017 prices were up by seven percent on a year earlier. In part the rise can be attributed to buyers choosing more expensive handsets with premium features.

The company says demand for phones climbed three percent year-on-year to the third quarter of 2017. A total of 367 million units were sold during the period. GfK says this is the highest ever number sold in a quarter although growth is slowing.