Vocus NZ sale back on the table as AGL considers bid

Last week Australian power company AGL Energy walked away from buying Vocus Group. This week The Australian newspaper reports AGL Energy could make a bid for Vocus’ New Zealand business.

The paper writes: “Vocus Group is believed to be considering a sale or float of its New Zealand operations, aiming to reinvest proceeds to create a business solely focused on its Australian fibre telecommunications networks.”

One of the drivers for AGL’s interest in acquiring a telecommunications business is the success Trustpower has enjoyed combining power and broadband sales. Vocus’ New Zealand business is in much better shape than the Australian retail operation.

Vocus number three in New Zealand

Here Vocus is better known for its brands: Callplus, Orcon, Slingshot and Flip. It is New Zealand’s third largest broadband retailer. Vocus New Zealand also owns Switch, a power retailer and fibre assets which were previously owned by FX networks.

Vocus Group attempted to sell its New Zealand business in 2017. At the time a number of buyers expressed an interest, but Vocus was looking for a quick transaction unencumbered by regulatory considerations.

In the event, the buyers who stayed with the process were unwilling to pay the asking price thought to be in the region of A$400 million.

Faafoi looks for long term iwi radio deal

At BusinessDesk, Paul McBeth reports Communications Minister Kris Faafoi: “wants a framework for iwi radio spectrum allocations that will endure beyond the current discussions over 5G technology”.

Faafoi, who this week was elevated into the cabinet, says the government is on track to hold the first auction of 5G mobile spectrum next year. The rights will be available for use from November 2022.

McBeth quotes Faafoi saying: “Iwi are of the mind that previous engagement with other spectrum allocations have been sub-optimal”. The minister says he aims to establish a framework so that the question doesn’t have to be revisited every time there is a spectrum allocation.

Commerce Commission wants customer view of services

The Commerce Commission is to survey telecommunications users as part of its new found responsibilities set up by the Telecommunications Act. A first survey will identify the information needed to help customers gauge the quality of competing phone and broadband services.

Among other matters it is considering collecting data on the availability, speed and performance of broadband and mobile networks, how long it takes for a customer service issue to be resolved, how often service interruptions occur, the cost of exiting a contract, and how easy it is to switch providers.

New Zealand spends a billion a year on public cloud

Research firm IDC says New Zealand public cloud revenue reached $1 billion in 2018. The public cloud market is growing at more than 30 percent year on year. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is the largest segment, with infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) in second place. The fastest growing cloud service is platform-as-a-service (PaaS). It climbed 45.6 percent in 2017 up from 42 percent in 2017

Stewart Sherriff retires from 2degrees

2degrees CEO Stewart Sherriff retires today after six years running the business. Sherriff was chairman of the company at the time former CEO Eric Hertz was killed in a plane crash and stepped into the role. The company’s CFO, and former Vodafone CFO, Mark Aue will replace Sherriff.