Coming soon…
in the Digital Strategy category
Politicians in England and the US have an enlightened attitude to rural broadband provisioning that is demonstrably absent from politicians in this country. The English are pushing for productivity to grow faster in their countryside than in urban areas. They see rural economic opportunities increasing…
Almost lost amidst the ructions of the continuing ‘Dirty Politics’ epic, were a pair of announcements by government minister Amy Adams that will impact rural people and businesses. Curiously, each announcement was made with Ms Adams wearing a different hat. Last week, in the name…
To paraphrase a saying attributed to philosopher George Santayana (1863 – 1952), those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past, are bound to repeat them. You may disagree with that sentiment but human history is riddled with examples that support it. For example, the…
The auction of the 700 MHz ‘digital dividend’ spectrum rights was completed in June, 14 months after the sale process commenced. This month, the purchasers have announced their plans to roll out new services based on that spectrum. The digital dividend band became available when…
Progress on the government’s 5-year Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) is ahead of schedule at the end of its third year according to spokespersons from Vodafone and Chorus. The $300 million RBI contracts were awarded jointly to Chorus and Vodafone in April 2011 with the contract…
What is it we consider when signing up for new broadband services? For many, price will be number one. This can be confusing because it is not always clear that we are comparing services on a like for like basis. Does a $75 plan from…
Last week I introduced the muddy waters of broadband speed tests. What muddies the issue is that there is not a standardised methodology for speed test services and therefore, the results gathered are open to selective interpretation. A speedtest is important to consumers because it…
Well it happened again on Sunday. Spam emails that is. A heap of them from a number of Telecom Xtra accounts. It has been a regular occurrence over the past year. Some get through my spam blocks. Over 90% do not. The ones that do…
In the hullabaloo that was Christmas Eve, there were no blaring headlines trumpeting just how internationally competitive nor how over priced, our broadband services are. Such contradictions are contained in the Commerce Commission’s report on fixed-line phone and broadband retail services. Last year, a separate…
With Chorus’ going on the offensive and the government kicking for touch over broadband pricing in the past week, a quote in my recent reading struck a chord with me. “Building a Gig community is 10 percent technology and 90 percent sociology.” This is so…
