Internet in New Zealand
Encyclopedia
In New Zealand
the major telephone company, Telecom New Zealand
, owns the majority of the infrastructure and is the only provider of digital subscriber line
s (DSL), which they wholesale to their subsidiary Xtra
(the largest Internet service provider
in New Zealand), as well as many of Telecom's "competitors", with varying speeds and download limits.
Download speeds range from 256 kbit/s to a theoretical maximum of 24 Mbit/s depending on the distance from the exchange, quality of the copper telephone line and equipment used in the exchange. Most households achieve an average speed between 1 Mbit/s and 10 Mbit/s per line. Internet service providers (ISPs) commonly limit speeds to 64 kbit/s after going over an allocated allowance
, while others charge per MiB
or GiB over a set limit. For approximately two years, Telecom offered a traffic managed
'unlimited' plan to avoid these limitations. The plan was cancelled on 20 May 2010 after trouble with supplying so much data to what were called the "bandwidth hogs".
The capacity went from 64 kbit/s to 128 kbit/s between February 1993 and February 1994.
In 1996, Telecom and Clear signed an interconnecting agreement, where Telecom would pay 1–2 cents/minute for calls from Telecom customers to Clear customers. When the agreement was signed, the potential of the internet was not fully understood.
The first company to take advantage of this situation was Compass Communications, which set up Freenet in February 2000. Several companies followed: i4free (by CallPlus), surf4nix, Zfree (by Clear), Splurge (by Quicksilver).
When users make a modem call from their Telecom phone line to their free ISP on Clear, Telecom had to pay the interconnection fee to Clear, which ranged up to tens of millions each year. The free ISPs had quite an impact on the New Zealand ISP market, dropping Xtra
's market share by 10% during the time they were operative.
Telecom quickly remedied the situation by forcing all ISPs to use special dial-up numbers starting with 0867, which were exempted from interconnection fees. (The legality of this decision was still before the courts as of 2010.) Zfree was the last free ISP to shut down in July 2002.
began providing broadband internet (ADSL) under the name JetStream
. There was a progressive roll out into local exchanges. JetStream services were offered by many different ISPs, with Telecom billing for all data usage and the ISP charging for authentication and other services such as a static IP address. Home users were offered 'starter' plans at 128 kbit/s upload and download. Speeds greater than 128 kbit/s were extremely expensive and extra data (beyond the allowance) was charged at over $0.10 per MB. Telecom progressively introduced lower cost home options. Businesses were able to access 'full speed' services at up to 8 Mbit/s downstream and 800 kbit/s upstream, with data charges up to $0.20 per MB.
During March 2004 a 256 kbit/s home service was introduced with a 10 GB allowance for NZ$70.
In 2005 the government mandated Unbundled Bitstream Service (UBS) at a maximum upstream bandwidth of 128 kbit/s. This allowed ISPs to bill for their client's data usage. Telecom initially specified a 256 kbit/s downstream, but added 1 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s options later in the year. Telecom provided this in addition to the existing Jetstream plans.
In late 2005 Telecom cancelled its previous wholesale arrangements for JetStream and its plans with other ISPs. Only Telecom's own ISP, Xtra
, could sell plans faster than the UBS options. Offering the 8 Mbit/s/800 kbit/s plans exclusively. ISPs ihug and Slingshot are still lobbyed to have full-speed access to ADSL, at up to 8 Mbit/s.
In February 2006 Telecom announced its intention to offer a speed upgrade on their wholesale. It was reported that some providers would likely reject the offer, though Telecom believed that negotiations were continuing well.
In April 2006 Telecom New Zealand introduced new cheaper services with download speeds up to 3.5 Mbit/s, some thought this was to avoid regulatory local loop unbundling
. In May 2006 local loop unbundling was announced as part of a comprehensive telecommunications package.
Amidst growing pressure from the government, Telecom boosted downloads to 3.5 Mbit/s and uploads to 512 kbit/s (at high costs such as $20/mth more just for increased upload speeds). Competitors and customers reported slower than expected speeds, with one ISP director criticizing Telecom's backhaul network. The new plans were also criticised for reducing the data caps on downloads.
think-tank has estimated that the economic benefits of competitive broadband access could be worth as much as NZ$
4.4 billion a year to New Zealand's gross domestic product. http://www.nzinstitute.org/Images/uploads/Broadband%20aspiration%20Sept%202007.pdf http://www.wellington.govt.nz/projects/new/broadband/benefits.html
On 26 October 2006, Telecom "unleashed" the download speeds on their network, meaning download speeds went as fast as the lines could go. Additionally, there was also an unlimited download plan, which was also uncapped, however 128kb upload, and a fair usage policy which is put in place to temporarily limit the speeds for customers who have high usage or make use of peer-to-peer connections via traffic shaping
- basically limiting a so-called "unlimited" plan. This plan only lasted for a few months until it became clear that Telecom were restricting all traffic (not just peer-to-peer) during all times of the day (instead of the 8 peak hours per day stated). Because of this, all subscribers on the so-called "Go Large" plan were given a refund for up to 2 months worth of service, and the plan is now no longer available to new subscribers.
In March 2007 Telecom started to introduce ADSL2+ into local exchanges through their roll-out programme.
and unconstrained UBS (which may see rapid changes in ISP offerings). The then (2006) Telecommunications Minister, David Cunliffe
, expected that the market would feel the effects from 2007–2009, with policy to be enacted commencing at the Budget in May 2006. As a part of the policy, the Government was to take steps to encourage private sector investment in improving rural telecommunications services, and to further open up the marketplace to alternative delivery media, such as fibre optics, cable
and satellite
.
Telecom had a monopoly
on the local loop
until very recently. There are alternatives such as CityLink in the Auckland and Wellington CBDs, TelstraClear
's cable internet in Wellington
and Christchurch
, satellite, and wireless in some locations – but products based on Telecom's DSL are the norm, as other networks do not have the same coverage nor pricing the DSL network has.
Telecom company Chorus is laying out fibre optic cable nationwide with half of Dunedin
complete with 10mb/s of broadband speed.
(KAREN) was set up in 2006 to link universities and Crown Research Institutes
within New Zealand via fibre-optic cable, with links to Sydney and Los Angeles via the Southern Cross Cable
, at speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (or 1 gigabit per second to Los Angeles and Sydney).
Weta Workshop
, Weta Digital
and Wingnut Films in Wellington have high-speed links provided by CityLink.
A new company Pacific Fibre
is proposing a second international cable between New Zealand and the United States, with claims in 2011 by one of the proponents Sam Morgan
that competition will cut international capacity costs, and result in more generous internet data caps.
(owned by Australia's dominant telecommunications company, Telstra
) is Telecom's biggest competitor, investing heavily in infrastructure throughout New Zealand. They have laid fibre networks in several cities, and are building a fibre backbone throughout New Zealand. TelstraClear offer their own cable television network with internet broadband in Wellington
and Christchurch
– at their entry level they offer 1 GB of data and 2 Mbit/s both up and down (5x more data, 8x faster download speed and 16x faster upload speed for a similar price as Telecom's entry level - $30). Now offering 10 Mbit/s down and 2 Mbit/s up, and also New Zealand's fastest home connection at 25 Mbit/s down and 2 Mbit/s up with a 120GB data limit for $230 a month.
There are multiple wireless broadband options from companies such as Vodafone, Woosh and Kordia, which are aiming at nationwide coverage, as well as smaller providers for individual towns. Satellite is available from Bordernet and ICONZ
for people in areas unserviced by broadband, and fibre is being developed by several companies in individual cities, including TelstraClear, CityLink and Vector
.
The most likely point of broadband competition will be with Telecom's local loop unbundling. The ISPANZ
group of ISPs are most likely to develop this, including TelstraClear, ihug, Orcon, Slingshot and Maxnet. Possibilities include ADSL2+ at speeds up to 24 Mbit/s (depending on distance from the exchange), voice over IP (and regular phones), and future digital TV in triple play
offerings.
Woosh offers broadband and landline via a modem, gateway and antenna utilising wireless radio waves however coverage is limited to Wellington, Auckland and Southland.
s throughout the country.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
the major telephone company, Telecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand is a New Zealand-wide communications service provider , providing fixed line telephone services, a mobile network, an internet service provider , a major ICT provider to NZ businesses , and a wholesale network infrastructure provider to other NZ CSPs...
, owns the majority of the infrastructure and is the only provider of digital subscriber line
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
s (DSL), which they wholesale to their subsidiary Xtra
Xtra (ISP)
Xtra Limited is New Zealand's largest Internet service provider . It was founded in 1996 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telecom New Zealand. Xtra has provided dial-up Internet access throughout New Zealand since its inception...
(the largest Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
in New Zealand), as well as many of Telecom's "competitors", with varying speeds and download limits.
Download speeds range from 256 kbit/s to a theoretical maximum of 24 Mbit/s depending on the distance from the exchange, quality of the copper telephone line and equipment used in the exchange. Most households achieve an average speed between 1 Mbit/s and 10 Mbit/s per line. Internet service providers (ISPs) commonly limit speeds to 64 kbit/s after going over an allocated allowance
Bandwidth cap
A bandwidth cap, also known as a bit cap, limits the transfer of a specified amount of data over a period of time. Internet service providers commonly apply a cap when a channel intended to be shared by many users becomes overloaded, or may be overloaded, by a few users...
, while others charge per MiB
Mebibyte
The mebibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The binary prefix mebi means 220, therefore 1 mebibyte is . The unit symbol for the mebibyte is MiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 2000 and has been accepted for use by all major...
or GiB over a set limit. For approximately two years, Telecom offered a traffic managed
Traffic shaping
Traffic shaping is the control of computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, improve latency, and/or increase usable bandwidth for some kinds of packets by delaying other kinds of packets that meet certain criteria...
'unlimited' plan to avoid these limitations. The plan was cancelled on 20 May 2010 after trouble with supplying so much data to what were called the "bandwidth hogs".
Early days
New Zealand's first internet connection was via Waikato University, managed by John Houlker.The capacity went from 64 kbit/s to 128 kbit/s between February 1993 and February 1994.
Free ISPs
At the start of the millennium, there were a number of ISPs offering free dial-up internet to users. Unlike free ISPs overseas, these did not survive on advertising or e-commerce revenue, instead, they were funded by interconnecting charges.In 1996, Telecom and Clear signed an interconnecting agreement, where Telecom would pay 1–2 cents/minute for calls from Telecom customers to Clear customers. When the agreement was signed, the potential of the internet was not fully understood.
The first company to take advantage of this situation was Compass Communications, which set up Freenet in February 2000. Several companies followed: i4free (by CallPlus), surf4nix, Zfree (by Clear), Splurge (by Quicksilver).
When users make a modem call from their Telecom phone line to their free ISP on Clear, Telecom had to pay the interconnection fee to Clear, which ranged up to tens of millions each year. The free ISPs had quite an impact on the New Zealand ISP market, dropping Xtra
Xtra (ISP)
Xtra Limited is New Zealand's largest Internet service provider . It was founded in 1996 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telecom New Zealand. Xtra has provided dial-up Internet access throughout New Zealand since its inception...
's market share by 10% during the time they were operative.
Telecom quickly remedied the situation by forcing all ISPs to use special dial-up numbers starting with 0867, which were exempted from interconnection fees. (The legality of this decision was still before the courts as of 2010.) Zfree was the last free ISP to shut down in July 2002.
First broadband
In 1999 Telecom New ZealandTelecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand is a New Zealand-wide communications service provider , providing fixed line telephone services, a mobile network, an internet service provider , a major ICT provider to NZ businesses , and a wholesale network infrastructure provider to other NZ CSPs...
began providing broadband internet (ADSL) under the name JetStream
JetStream
JetStream and Mobile JetStream are two former brand names used by Telecom New Zealand to market its retail and resale ADSL-based fixed line and CDMA2000-based 3G wireless Internet access offerings respectively...
. There was a progressive roll out into local exchanges. JetStream services were offered by many different ISPs, with Telecom billing for all data usage and the ISP charging for authentication and other services such as a static IP address. Home users were offered 'starter' plans at 128 kbit/s upload and download. Speeds greater than 128 kbit/s were extremely expensive and extra data (beyond the allowance) was charged at over $0.10 per MB. Telecom progressively introduced lower cost home options. Businesses were able to access 'full speed' services at up to 8 Mbit/s downstream and 800 kbit/s upstream, with data charges up to $0.20 per MB.
During March 2004 a 256 kbit/s home service was introduced with a 10 GB allowance for NZ$70.
In 2005 the government mandated Unbundled Bitstream Service (UBS) at a maximum upstream bandwidth of 128 kbit/s. This allowed ISPs to bill for their client's data usage. Telecom initially specified a 256 kbit/s downstream, but added 1 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s options later in the year. Telecom provided this in addition to the existing Jetstream plans.
In late 2005 Telecom cancelled its previous wholesale arrangements for JetStream and its plans with other ISPs. Only Telecom's own ISP, Xtra
Xtra (ISP)
Xtra Limited is New Zealand's largest Internet service provider . It was founded in 1996 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telecom New Zealand. Xtra has provided dial-up Internet access throughout New Zealand since its inception...
, could sell plans faster than the UBS options. Offering the 8 Mbit/s/800 kbit/s plans exclusively. ISPs ihug and Slingshot are still lobbyed to have full-speed access to ADSL, at up to 8 Mbit/s.
In February 2006 Telecom announced its intention to offer a speed upgrade on their wholesale. It was reported that some providers would likely reject the offer, though Telecom believed that negotiations were continuing well.
In April 2006 Telecom New Zealand introduced new cheaper services with download speeds up to 3.5 Mbit/s, some thought this was to avoid regulatory local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises...
. In May 2006 local loop unbundling was announced as part of a comprehensive telecommunications package.
Monopoly concerns
In early 2006, there were growing concerns about below par broadband in New Zealand. On the whole, Telecom's upstream speeds (128 kbit/s) and data caps had resulted in New Zealand's internet connections being ranked amongst the worst in the OECD. Competitors were making some changes such as offering higher data caps (XTRA's data caps averaged from 1 to 10 gigabytes of data per month, while competitors such as ihug offered 40 and 60 GB options, or Xnet who offered free national data on their ADSL plans.) In mid 2006, Telecom still had control over the network including speeds and how much data they supplied each "UBS" customer.Amidst growing pressure from the government, Telecom boosted downloads to 3.5 Mbit/s and uploads to 512 kbit/s (at high costs such as $20/mth more just for increased upload speeds). Competitors and customers reported slower than expected speeds, with one ISP director criticizing Telecom's backhaul network. The new plans were also criticised for reducing the data caps on downloads.
Unleashing speeds
In May 2006, the government announced a comprehensive telecommunications package including unbundling of the local loop to allow other ISPs to compete more effectively against Telecom's DSL offerings. The New Zealand InstituteThe New Zealand Institute
The New Zealand Institute is a privately funded think tank based in Auckland, New Zealand.It was set up in July 2004 and is "committed to generating ideas, debate, and solutions that contribute to building a better and more prosperous New Zealand for all New Zealanders"...
think-tank has estimated that the economic benefits of competitive broadband access could be worth as much as NZ$
New Zealand dollar
The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....
4.4 billion a year to New Zealand's gross domestic product. http://www.nzinstitute.org/Images/uploads/Broadband%20aspiration%20Sept%202007.pdf http://www.wellington.govt.nz/projects/new/broadband/benefits.html
On 26 October 2006, Telecom "unleashed" the download speeds on their network, meaning download speeds went as fast as the lines could go. Additionally, there was also an unlimited download plan, which was also uncapped, however 128kb upload, and a fair usage policy which is put in place to temporarily limit the speeds for customers who have high usage or make use of peer-to-peer connections via traffic shaping
Traffic shaping
Traffic shaping is the control of computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, improve latency, and/or increase usable bandwidth for some kinds of packets by delaying other kinds of packets that meet certain criteria...
- basically limiting a so-called "unlimited" plan. This plan only lasted for a few months until it became clear that Telecom were restricting all traffic (not just peer-to-peer) during all times of the day (instead of the 8 peak hours per day stated). Because of this, all subscribers on the so-called "Go Large" plan were given a refund for up to 2 months worth of service, and the plan is now no longer available to new subscribers.
In March 2007 Telecom started to introduce ADSL2+ into local exchanges through their roll-out programme.
Current stance
The government mandated local loop unbundling in 2006; thus allowing other ISPs to setup their own infrastructure and services, and using only Telecom's existing copper wiring and exchanges. Several countries do similarly to compete more effectively with the incumbent's offerings. They also mandated naked DSLNaked DSL
A naked DSL is a digital subscriber line without a PSTN service — or the associated dial tone...
and unconstrained UBS (which may see rapid changes in ISP offerings). The then (2006) Telecommunications Minister, David Cunliffe
David Cunliffe
David Richard Cunliffe is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party, and the sitting member of parliament for New Lynn, West Auckland. He served as the Minister of Health and Minister for Communications and Information Technology for the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand...
, expected that the market would feel the effects from 2007–2009, with policy to be enacted commencing at the Budget in May 2006. As a part of the policy, the Government was to take steps to encourage private sector investment in improving rural telecommunications services, and to further open up the marketplace to alternative delivery media, such as fibre optics, cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
and satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
.
Telecom had a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on the local loop
Local loop
In telephony, the local loop is the physical link or circuit that connects from the demarcation point of the customer premises to the edge of the carrier or telecommunications service provider's network...
until very recently. There are alternatives such as CityLink in the Auckland and Wellington CBDs, TelstraClear
TelstraClear
TelstraClear is New Zealand's second-largest telecommunications company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telstra Corporation , with around 400,000 customers....
's cable internet in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, satellite, and wireless in some locations – but products based on Telecom's DSL are the norm, as other networks do not have the same coverage nor pricing the DSL network has.
Telecom company Chorus is laying out fibre optic cable nationwide with half of Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
complete with 10mb/s of broadband speed.
Ultra Fast Broadband Initiative
The Government announced details of the Ultra Fast Broadband Initiative in September 2009, committing NZ$1.5 billion to accelerate the roll-out of ultra fast broadband to 75% of homes over 10 years.High-speed networks
Kiwi Advanced Research and Education NetworkKiwi Advanced Research and Education Network
The Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network is a high-capacity, ultra high-speed national research and education network connecting New Zealand's tertiary institutions, research organisations, libraries, schools and museums, and the rest of the world...
(KAREN) was set up in 2006 to link universities and Crown Research Institutes
Crown Research Institutes
In New Zealand, Crown Research Institutes are corporatised Crown entities charged with conducting scientific research.Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of the parts of the former Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and of elements of various government...
within New Zealand via fibre-optic cable, with links to Sydney and Los Angeles via the Southern Cross Cable
Southern Cross Cable
The Southern Cross Cable, operated by Bermuda company Southern Cross Cables Limited, is a trans-Pacific network of telecommunications cables commissioned in 2000....
, at speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (or 1 gigabit per second to Los Angeles and Sydney).
Weta Workshop
Weta Workshop
Weta Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, New Zealand, producing effects for television and film.Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger as RT Effects, Weta Workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys...
, Weta Digital
Weta Digital
Weta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to produce the digital special effects for Heavenly Creatures. In 2007 Weta Digital’s Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Joe Letteri, was...
and Wingnut Films in Wellington have high-speed links provided by CityLink.
A new company Pacific Fibre
Pacific Fibre
Pacific Fibre is a New Zealand-based company that has proposed to build a trans-Pacific undersea cable that will compete with the Southern Cross Cable operated by Telecom New Zealand.-Notable people:*Mark Rushworth, CEO*Lance Wiggs...
is proposing a second international cable between New Zealand and the United States, with claims in 2011 by one of the proponents Sam Morgan
Sam Morgan (entrepreneur)
Sam Morgan is best known as the founder of TradeMe, New Zealand's largest online auction site, which he sold in 2006 to Australian media company Fairfax for over NZ$750 million.- Personal history :...
that competition will cut international capacity costs, and result in more generous internet data caps.
Retail competition
TelstraClearTelstraClear
TelstraClear is New Zealand's second-largest telecommunications company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telstra Corporation , with around 400,000 customers....
(owned by Australia's dominant telecommunications company, Telstra
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
) is Telecom's biggest competitor, investing heavily in infrastructure throughout New Zealand. They have laid fibre networks in several cities, and are building a fibre backbone throughout New Zealand. TelstraClear offer their own cable television network with internet broadband in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
– at their entry level they offer 1 GB of data and 2 Mbit/s both up and down (5x more data, 8x faster download speed and 16x faster upload speed for a similar price as Telecom's entry level - $30). Now offering 10 Mbit/s down and 2 Mbit/s up, and also New Zealand's fastest home connection at 25 Mbit/s down and 2 Mbit/s up with a 120GB data limit for $230 a month.
There are multiple wireless broadband options from companies such as Vodafone, Woosh and Kordia, which are aiming at nationwide coverage, as well as smaller providers for individual towns. Satellite is available from Bordernet and ICONZ
ICONZ
The Internet Company of New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand hosting and Internet service provider company, and was a pioneer in providing Internet connections to residential New Zealand users...
for people in areas unserviced by broadband, and fibre is being developed by several companies in individual cities, including TelstraClear, CityLink and Vector
Vector Limited
Vector Limited is a multi-network infrastructure company in New Zealand. It is the national number one provider of electricity distribution, number one provider of gas transmission and distribution, number one provider of electricity and gas metering, number two wholesaler of LPG and number three...
.
The most likely point of broadband competition will be with Telecom's local loop unbundling. The ISPANZ
ISPANZ
The Internet Service Providers Association of New Zealand is an organisation formed by internet service providers in New Zealand. Its 25 members include all major ISPs except the largest Xtra.It's objectives are:...
group of ISPs are most likely to develop this, including TelstraClear, ihug, Orcon, Slingshot and Maxnet. Possibilities include ADSL2+ at speeds up to 24 Mbit/s (depending on distance from the exchange), voice over IP (and regular phones), and future digital TV in triple play
Triple play (telecommunications)
In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of two bandwidth-intensive services, high-speed Internet access and television, and a less bandwidth-demanding service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business...
offerings.
Woosh offers broadband and landline via a modem, gateway and antenna utilising wireless radio waves however coverage is limited to Wellington, Auckland and Southland.
Internet exchange points
CityLink operates ExchangeNET, a network of neutral Internet exchange pointInternet Exchange Point
An Internet exchange point is a physical infrastructure through which Internet service providers exchange Internet traffic between their networks . IXPs reduce the portion of an ISP's traffic which must be delivered via their upstream transit providers, thereby reducing the average per-bit...
s throughout the country.
Largest ISPs
- XtraXtra (ISP)Xtra Limited is New Zealand's largest Internet service provider . It was founded in 1996 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telecom New Zealand. Xtra has provided dial-up Internet access throughout New Zealand since its inception...
(Telecom NZ) - TelstraClearTelstraClearTelstraClear is New Zealand's second-largest telecommunications company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telstra Corporation , with around 400,000 customers....
- Vodafone New ZealandVodafone New ZealandVodafone New Zealand is a British owned telecommunications company, a subsidiary of Vodafone Plc operating in New Zealand. It is New Zealand's largest mobile phone operator, based in Auckland, New Zealand and was formed in 1998, after Vodafone purchased BellSouth's New Zealand operations...
- OrconOrcon Internet LimitedOrcon Internet Limited , is a state-owned New Zealand telecommunications company. It is currently New Zealand's fourth largest ISP.-History:...
- SlingshotSlingshot (ISP)Slingshot is a New Zealand owned telecommunications company. Founded in 2001, it is one of the major internet service providers in New Zealand. Slingshot is a subsidiary of CallPlus Services Ltd, the majority of which is owned by Annette Presley and her ex-husband Malcolm Dick, with ex-CEO Martin...
- Woosh Wireless
See also
- .nz.nz.nz is the Internet country code top-level domain for New Zealand. It is administered by InternetNZ through its subsidiary, NZ Registry Services, with oversight and dispute resolution handled by the Domain Name Commission Ltd. Registrations are processed via authorised registrars...
Top-level domain suffix (NZ) - New Zealand Internet BlackoutNew Zealand Internet BlackoutThe New Zealand Internet Blackout was an online protest spearheaded by the against changes to copyright law in New Zealand, most notably Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment Act....
re 2011 protests against file-sharing law - Internet access worldwide#New Zealand
- NZNOGNZNOGNZNOG is the New Zealand Network Operators' Group. Originally formed as a mailing list hosted by the University of Waikato and intended to provide a means of easy collaboration between Internet Service Provider network operations staff, its role has expanded to that of an online community of...
New Zealand Network Operators Group - New Zealand Electronic Text CentreNew Zealand Electronic Text CentreThe New Zealand Electronic Text Centre is a unit of the library at the Victoria University of Wellington which provides a free online archive of New Zealand and Pacific Islands texts and heritage materials. The NZETC has an ongoing programme of digitisation and feature additions to the current...
- Peter Dengate ThrushPeter Dengate ThrushPeter Dengate-Thrush aka PDT is a New Zealand barrister specialising in Internet law. In November 2007 he was appointed Chairman of the Board of ICANN, taking over the role from Vint Cerf....
a Wellington lawyer who became Chairman of ICANNICANNThe Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
in 2007.
External links
- Internet Choice - Lets you compare New Zealand broadband plans
- ISPtalk - New Zealand Internet Speed Test and Information
- ISPmap - List of New Zealand ISPs
- BeSTGRID (Broadband enabled Science and Technology GRID)
- Connecting the Clouds - the Internet in New Zealand
- NZ Connections - A wiki comparing every ISP and their plans/pricing in New Zealand
- Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative