Apple confirms launch of White iPhone
Apple has confirmed that the white iPhone 4 will be available from 28 April.
White phones will be available from Apple’s online store, at Apple’s retail stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.
The new colour will be available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and the US beginning 28 April and in many more countries around the world soon.
It will sell for a suggested retail price of US$199 for the 16GB model and US$299 for the 32GB model with a new two-year agreement.
2Degrees offers unlimited talk plan (New Zealand)
2degrees is offering an unlimited talk plan for US$120.03 per month. The company has trialled the plan since December and offers it on a twelve and 24-month contract, or month by month.
The ‘Pay Monthly $149 Plan’ covers all standard national calls to any New Zealand mobile and landline and also includes 1,000 texts plus 250 MB of 3G data.
Telecom eliminates HR from management (New Zealand )
Telecom will undertake the next two years’ restructuring under its “Vision 2013″ with no human resources representation at the company’s senior management top table.
Telecom chief executive Paul Reynolds announced that the outcome of senior management changes signaled in a restructure announced earlier this week, which will slim down the Telecom senior management team from 10 people to eight.
However, the new structure still sees two senior roles reporting directly to Reynolds without being on the top team: head of Wholesale, Nick Clarke, and the newly named head of HR at the nation’s largest telecommunications company, Jan O’Neill, who is currently general manager of human resources for Telecom’s retail operations.
Vodafone to invest in NZ broadband launch to rural areas
Vodafone Group PLC is to invest over US$79 million to extend broadband services to most rural areas of New Zealand, aiding a sector that accounts for 50% of the country’s exports.
Vodafone’s commitment is on top of the $285 million the New Zealand government is spending to subsidize the thousands of kilometers of new fiber cables linking schools, hospitals and rural telecommunications exchanges and on new cell phone towers. Vodafone will work with Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd., which is also investing “tens of millions of dollars” in the network upgrade.
New Zealand’s economically important rural industry has long complained about the lack of investment in broadband networks and reliable cell phone coverage in remote areas, arguing it was stifling development. New Zealand produces a third of the world’s internationally traded dairy products, generating over $11 billion in revenues annually, and is also a major exporter of wool, lamb and wine.
The government’s private-public partnership initiative involves providing a 5Mbps broadband service to 80% of rural households within six years. The rollout is expected to begin July 1.
Exports from New Zealand’s rural industries are central to the country’s economic recovery following two devastating earthquakes that hit Christchurch, the country’s second largest city. Last month, the country’s Finance Minister said the country is staring down the barrel of its widest deficit ever in the year to June.
According to Mark Ratcliffe, CEO of Telecom Corp.’s network arm Chorus, its involvement in the broadband rollout would cost the company tens of millions of dollars but would have minimum impact on the company’s earnings.
Vodafone is also unlikely to see any benefit to its bottom line in the next ten years, said Russell Stanners, chief executive of the company’s unit in New Zealand.
But the construction of the new towers will make connections to existing Vodafone subscribers, particularly cell phone users, better, he said.
The government is subsidizing the building of the infrastructure, which will be owned by the two companies, because the distances between customers in rural areas mean the project wouldn’t otherwise be commercially viable.
The fiber network and towers will be available to other retailers who will then be able to provide competing services to rural areas.
Optus selects NSN for network upgradation (Australia)
Optus has selected Nokia Siemens Networks as its sole packet core vendor in a multimillion dollar network upgrade agreement.
Nokia Siemens Networks will also provide its Charge@once Mediate solution that will enable Optus to introduce new services without making any major changes to its charging and billing systems. Nokia Siemens Networks’ professional services including network planning, implementation and Care underpin the Evolved Packet Core deal.
According to Kalevi Kostiainen, Head of Australia and New Zealand at Nokia Siemens Networks, with the increasing use of data and smartphone applications, their Evolved Packet Core provides a springboard to operators such as Optus to launch new services.Moreover, their platform is LTE ready and adds enormous capacity to data transport channels, allowing Optus Open Network to be flexible in responding to the market demands related to high capacity, using a robust platform.
Auckland HC fines Telecom New Zealand
The High Court in Auckland has imposed $12 million penalty against Telecom New Zealand for charging “disproportionately high prices” for wholesale access to its landline network.
The penalty is the highest imposed under the Commerce Act, which was amended in 2001 to increase the fines available for anti-competitive conduct.
In October 2009 the High Court determined that from 2001 to 2004 Telecom unlawfully leveraged its market power to charge downstream competitors high prices for wholesale access to its network, preventing them from offering retail end-to-end high-speed data services on a competitive basis.
The hearing in the Court of Appeal is scheduled to commence in September and will include consideration of the High Court penalty judgment if that is appealed in the interim.
PieNetworks wins contract from Wellington airport (Australia, New Zealand)
PieNetworks has won a five-year contract from Wellington International Airport in New Zealand to install and operate a network of Hotspot Webphones.
The Hotspot Webphones will replace existing payphones and internet kiosks and include a Wi-Fi mesh network throughout the international and domestic terminals. Installation of the Webphone network is scheduled to be completed by May 2011.
PieNetworks bags contract from Wellington airport (Australia, New Zealand)
PieNetworks has secured a five-year contract from Wellington International Airport in New Zealand to install and operate a network of Hotspot Webphones.
The Hotspot Webphones will replace existing payphones and internet kiosks and include a Wi-Fi mesh network throughout the international and domestic terminals. Installation of the Webphone network is scheduled to be completed by May 2011.
TeamTalk launches service to connect to Police’s mobile radio network (New Zealand)
TeamTalk is offering interconnection of its mobile radio networks with the New Zealand Police’s new digital mobile radio network.
The Police have installed a new mobile radio network in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch which can be connected to TeamTalk’s commercial networks.
According to Managing Director David Ware, it was only after the Christchurch earthquake that the penny really dropped and they thought it would be great if the Police could communicate directly with the guys operating the bulldozers, cranes and with all the other commercial operators who were key to the recovery effort. The company states that interconnection could be achieved in a few weeks if the Police took the company up on the offer.
Air New Zealand inks deal with OnAir
Air New Zealand has signed a deal with OnAir, an in-flight connectivity provider to fit its equipment into an additional two aircraft. The first of Air New Zealand’s new domestic A320 fleet was the first aircraft in the country to be equipped with OnAir services in February 2011.
Two aircraft are currently offering the service on selected domestic routes, with the additional two being deployed by the end of this year. This makes Air New Zealand the first Pacific airline to roll out the services on a permanent basis.
According to Air New Zealand’s General Manager Airline Operations Captain David Morgan, this new technology underlines the airline’s commitment to provide its customers with innovative solutions to meet their needs.
According to Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir, the decision of Air New Zealand to expand their services to two additional domestic aircraft is significant. It shows there is a demand from passengers to be able to make and receive calls, send sms, and check emails in the plane. The agreement also reinforces OnAir’s position on all continents by expanding into the Pacific region but also sends another strong signal to the industry that inflight passenger communications has come of age – and is a must-have for airlines looking to remain competitive in the future.
