Uzbekistan-based mobile services provider Ucell has added new roaming partners. Ucell has signed a bilateral agreement with Latelz in Cambodia (Smart Mobile) and Telecom New Zealand.
The company will now allow prepaid users to roam on the Viva network in Kuwait, on Qtel’s network in Qatar and on Telekom Deutschland’s network in Germany.
Moreover, Ucell added Telecel in Bolivia as a GPRS and 3G roaming partner.
Telecom has partnered with the New Zealand Red Cross to supply the official txt-to-donate fundraising service for the New Zealand Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal.
Users of all New Zealand mobile networks can text 4419 to make an automatic $3 donation to the Appeal.
New Zealanders can also include a message of support for the people of Canterbury which will be publicly broadcast.
To ensure 100% of the donation will make its way to the Appeal, Telecom is providing this service free-of-charge.
Telecom has worked together with Vodafone, 2degrees and Run the Red who have also agreed to waive revenue and costs on this service.
Please ask the bill payer first before donating.
Telecom continues to urge people within the Canterbury region to conserve their phones for emergency purposes only.
Telecom New Zealand has asked the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to investigate a suspected breach of its customer database.
Last month, it was revealed that Slingshot’s sales company Power Marketing had access to Telecom’s customer database, allowing the marketers to view names, addresses, and billing details.
According to reports, the Serious Fraud Office received a complaint from Telecom on 17 January. It was assessed four days later following which an initial investigation commenced.
If reports are to be believed, the entire customer database of Telecom New Zealand has been exposed to a commercial rival, who then used the details to cold-call Telecom customers and try to persuade them to switch suppliers.
Reports revealed that staff at rival telco Slingshot was accessing the Telecom customer database from inside offices belonging to a Slingshot sales contractor, Power Marketing Limited.
According to sources, the database, which contains an estimated 2.15 million names, gave sales staff the ability to know exactly what services the customer was signed up to, how much was paid and whether they were tied to a contract.
Slingshot hired Power Marketing to cold-call customers, and has reportedly signed up some 160,000 customers for the company over a two year period.
According to Telecom retail Chief Executive Alan Gourdie, it would not rule out going to the police over the security breach. They are just outraged. This is their customer data – potentially fraudulently used. They will pursue this to all remedies that are available.
The database never revealed the customers bank or credit card details, and the breach seems to have taken place when access details legitimately used by a Telecom NZ dealer were somehow passed to Power Marketing.
Power Marketing did not deny that it was accessing the Telecom database, but did deny they were using it for sales purposes. The company refused to comment further. Slingshot is carrying out an investigation into the allegations about its sales partner.
The privacy breach revelation comes just a week after Vodafone New Zealand had issued a denial that its own customer database was vulnerable following a similar problem with its Australian affiliate.
NetComm Limited (NTC) and Telecom New Zealand Limited (TEL) announce the release of both the NetComm MyZoneâ„¢, a portable 3G WiFi router and the Telecom Turbo Wireless Router one of the fastest 21Mbps/HSPA+ mobile broadband router to connect to Telecom’s XT Mobile Network. These devices are set to deliver unparalleled access, superfast mobile Internet speeds and flexibility to New Zealand homes and businesses nationwide.
Telecom is the first New Zealand telecommunications carrier to supply a 21Mbps WiFi Router to the market. Both the MyZone and Telecom Turbo Wireless Router were developed in response to the trend towards mobile broadband connectivity.
Telecom Turbo Wireless Router will allow Telecom’s consumer and business customers to establish a wireless local area network for up to 16 WiFi, four wired and two USB 2.0 devices to connect and share multiple: notebooks, desktop PCs, USB printers and mass storage units.
The sleek credit card sized MyZonegives users the capability to simultaneously connect up to six wireless devices including: notebooks, tablets, cameras and gaming consoles to a single mobile broadband account from anywhere on the XT network nationwide. The device combines a 3G modem router, WiFi access point and long-life integrated lithium-lion battery into a single pocket sized unit.
“The launch of these products will transform the way the Internet is accessed in New Zealand by delivering widespread mobility and superfast mobile Internet speeds via the XT Network. This further secures Telecom‘s place at the forefront of 3G technological advancement and reflects NetComm’s continued development of solid alliances with leading international providers of mobile broadband technologies,” says NetComm’s General Manager, Danny Morrison.
“The launch of the Telecom Turbo Wireless Router is a significant milestone. We are proud to have introduced the first device of this kind to the New Zealand market in conjunction with the MyZone which combines the exceptional benefits of the XT Network with the latest in technological innovation. The release of these products reflects our ongoing commitment to providing customers with the most progressive 3G technologies,†says Telecom’s Business Device Manager, Matt Hampel.
The Telecom Turbo Wireless Router is an all-in-one modem router that contains four internal antennas (two WiFi and two 3G antennas) and connects to an external 3G antenna in rural areas. The user friendly MyZone weighs only 75g and connects to the XT Network that supports maximum data through put of 7.2 Mbps in downlink and 5.76 Mbps in uplink. Actual speeds vary and also depend on the number of connections to the routers. Both devices are equipped with advanced network security features.
Telecom Turbo Wireless Router
Available from Telecom stores and dealers – Business customers should contact their Gen-i client manager.
From $199 including GST on selected plans or $499 including GST for the device only.
NetComm MyZone
Available from selected retailers, Telecom stores and dealers – Business customers should contact their Gen-i client manager.
MyZone is $299 including GST by itself or free on selected plans.
Media enquiries to:
Stephanie Stewart, NetComm Communications Manager
Phone: +61 2 9424 2045 or email: stephanies@netcomm.com.au
Visit: www.netcomm.com.au
Emma-Kate Greer, Corporate Communications Manager Retail
Phone: +64 27 655 44 99 or email: emma-kate.greer@telecom.nz
Visit: www.telecom.co.nz
About NetComm Limited NetComm Limited (ASX: NTC) is a leading developer and manufacturer of broadband technology. With 27 years experience, NetComm develop a wide range of broadband products to facilitate worldwide networks. Its products are uniquely customized for each carrier requirement and designed to deliver reliable communications for consumer, business and industrial applications. With particular expertise in 3G/HSPA technologies, NetComm engineer world first 3G products that support evolving networks and deliver quality data communication products.
Telecom New Zealand has revealed a 20.9% drop in profits for the year to June 30 to US$271 million, whereas revenues also fell by 6.3% to US$3.7 billion.
The mobile customer support decreased to 2.171 million customers as of 30 June 2010, from 2.186 million customers last year, as CDMA connections became inactive.
The migration and acquisition of customers to the WCDMA based XT network sustained during Q4 FY10, adding 117,000 connections. This has resulted in 32.8% of total mobile connections now on the XT network as at 30 June 2010, compared to 25.9% as at 31 March 2010.
According to Paul Reynolds, CEO, Telecom, The Company has halted the significant earnings decline of the previous two years and achieved notable improvements in the trajectory of each of its businesses. In a year of further recessionary and regulatory impacts, it is especially pleasing to have delivered strong growth in free cash flow of $126m, or 28%, the first such growth since the regulatory shock of 2006. This shows that their transformation and turnaround programme is on track.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A structural separation of the Telecom New Zealand wholesale and retail divisions has been suggested by the company’s CEO Paul Reynolds in order for Telecom NZ to be able to take part in the UFB tender process. UFB plan was suggested by the New Zealand government in early 2009 with a fund of NZD 1.5 billion to build broadband in the country. The aim of the plan was to connect 75 percent of homes in 25 cities to fibre within six years.
In March 2009, the plan was further developed with the establishment of the Crown Fibre Investment Company (CFIC), which is looking for co-investors in the 25 Local Fibre Companies (LFC) project. Wholesale only (no ISP role) and open access for service providers were the principles of the network. In September 2009, more elaborations to the plan came on board, as well as some delays.
Just like Telstra in Australia, Telecom New Zealand has been placed in a tough spot with the government plan: to participate or compete? Telecom NZ has ‘voluntarily’ suggested a possible structural separation as the government has set an inflexible demand of ‘wholesale only’. This arrangement has raised a major question that whether retail should be separated from the wholesale and network, or whether the network Chorus should be sold off.
Telecom NZ has been put into a difficult situation by the government as the cost and risks are considerably high and companies lose the existing synergies from vertical integration. However, among all these things, the benefits of structural separation have been ignored. With the removal of the market inequality, the incumbent is no longer the only one to enjoy the advantages of vertical integration and cross-subsidization. Secondly, it is difficult to compete with your customer and that is exactly what is going on between the retail and wholesale division.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Formerly known as NZ Communications, 2degrees, New Zealand’s newly-launched third mobile network has made a remarkable start in its bid to break the country’s mobile duopoly. The new network has not only taken over 50 percent of net additions which is something about 70,000 connections in the last quarter of the year but has also predicted that it will surpass a quarter of a million connections by the end of the current quarter (Q1 2010).
The GSM services of 2degrees were launched in August 2009. It’s low-cost prepaid strategy quickly made an impact as it significantly undercut its larger rivals, market-leader Vodafone and second-placed Telecom New Zealand (Telecom). The company cut the voice calls from NZD0.89 (US$0.63) to NZD0.44 (US$0.31) per minute and standard text messaging from NZD0.20 to NZD0.09. The operator has also claimed that it has halved the country’s standard prepaid rates.
NZD250 million (US$176 million) has been initially invested by the operator to build out its new network using Huawei kit. The launch of the new network has also served to step up pressure on regulators to force Vodafone and Telecom to make significant cuts in their mobile termination rates (MTRs). Even before the regulatory intervention, the two larger operators have already begun moves to cut standard termination rates (NZD0.15 per minute for calls and NZD0.10 for texts).
New Zealand’s market leader is in the form of Vodafone with just under 2.5 million connections by year-end. However, overall connections growth is slowing, rising by just 1.2 percent in the year to Q4 2009. Meanwhile, a subsidiary of the country’s fixed-line incumbent operator and second-placed Telecom is in the process of replacing its CDMA2000 network with a new high-spec WCDMA/HSPA network running at 850MHz called XT.
2degrees deployed a well-established tactic for a new player entering a market. Embedded incumbents controlled the operator by building a connections base around a low-cost, no-frills prepaid proposition. Currently, New Zealand has seven MVNOs, the majority of which have been launched in the last year. There is also indication that the operator is looking beyond 2G services but it is likely to find itself trapped in a competition with its larger rivals in high-speed services.
Vodafone has emerged as the clear market leader in this space and has had success in bundling up its 3G services with its fixed-line offerings via cross-channel content arrangements with the likes of Sky TV.
Telecom’s rival XT network seems to be copying Telstra’s pioneering NextG network in neighboring Australia, but it has had a first year it would rather forget. However, Telecom has engulfed itself in heavy investment in the network and it should emerge as a strong platform for mobile data services once the technical problems are resolved.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news:? A number of companies have been contacted by Telecom Corp of New Zealand Ltd over an outsourcing contract for a large chunk of its technical services. The names of the company have not been disclosed and the worth of the contract is also kept behind the curtains because of the sensitivity.
Reportedly, India’s Tech Mahindra Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. are among companies in discussions with Telecom over the outsourcing contract estimated to be of $1 billion. The company is at the stage of deciding philosophically how it wants to approach the issue as it is a big, long-term strategic decision for the whole business and the development of structure the technology part of the business in a way that it can help the rest of it achieve what it needs to achieve and therefore the decision will not be taken in hurry.
New Zealand’s largest telco by sales and market share has been in turmoil since 2006 when the government decided to bust its effective monopoly by forcing it to open its networks to rivals.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Splitting of network operating unit Chorus in two years has been announced by Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd in order to be able to participate in a national fiber rollout. The company has also announced a downgrade of its profit guidance for fiscal 2011. The spilt will clear its way for participation in the government’s planned ultrafast national fiber broadband network that will be established from this year jointly with the private sector.
Until and unless the telecom operator separates its retail and network businesses according to conditions imposed by the government, it won’t be able to becoming a full partner in the plan.
According to Telecom Chief Executive Paul Reynolds, his board was “open-minded” and would run “all of this through the filter of the benefit to New Zealanders.
