8th August 2017

TUANZ welcomes today’s long awaited introduction of the Telecommunications Amendment Bill which is the outcome of the review of the current regulatory framework.  

“Earlier this year we stated our support of many of the proposed changes when outlined in an options paper, and it’s pleasing to see these make it to Parliament” said Craig Young, Chief Executive of TUANZ.  “The contents of the bill will have important implications for consumers and businesses not only in the short term, but most importantly in the post 2020 world of digital communications”.

“We are especially pleased to see our concerns around the ability of the Commerce Commission to respond to possible competition problems, as well as enhancing the Commission’s powers around ensuring consumer retail service quality is maintained and improved are addressed in the Bill.” said Mr Young.

“This is a significant bill that will take some time to review and as always there will be details that we will want to query at the appropriate time.   As the unique organisation that represents the users of digital communications, our members believe that the voice of these users, both businesses and consumers, continue to be critically important in these matters and we will be fully involved as the bill makes its way through select committee in the next parliament” stated Mr Pat O’Connell, Chair of the Board of TUANZ.

Mr O’Connell went on to say that: “One element not addressed as a result of the review is the inequality of resourcing for consumer voice research and advocacy that exists in New Zealand when compared to other jurisdictions such as Australia.  We are fortunate that today, as over the last 30 years, a significant number of New Zealand businesses and individuals have seen the importance of supporting such a voice through membership of our our organisation.”

ENDS

1st June 2017

Today the Government announced the latest decisions from the review of the current Telecommunications Act that has been underway for the last few years.  “ We have been active in ensuring that our members views were well represented throughout the process and Based on our initial viewing of the latest release, it is pleasing to see several of our proposals taken up by the review.” said Craig Young, CEO of TUANZ.

Today’s package confirms most of the details around the post 2020 regulatory environment for fixed lines services.  While the basis of it remains significantly unchanged since previous announcements, there are a number of changes where some of TUANZ concerns have been considered.  “We are pleased to see that while it does not fully address our concern that the that the 100 Mbs download product will be superseded by faster service even as early as 2020, its is an improvement to see that the anchor product that will be price capped for fibre services has now been defined as an entry level product rather than the most popular.” said Mr Young.

TUANZ does remain concerned over the de-regulation of copper services inside UFB areas, but will work with the Commerce Commission on ensuring there are strong consumer protections within any customer migration codes put in place post the de-regulation.  Rural users will be relying on the copper network for many years to come and so regulation of price and quality of that network as well as the protections under the TSO will remain incredibly important.

“We have been consistently calling for an independent review of the mobile market to ensure that it is delivering internationally competitive services to New Zealanders, and it is pleasing to see the announcement that the Minister will provide a recommendation to the Commerce Commission that they undertake such a study, albeit of the wholesale part of the market” said Mr Young. TUANZ will also write to the Commission to support the Minister’s proposal and requesting that the review is comprehensive given the increased dependence on mobile and fixed wireless services particularly in rural New Zealand

There are also good wins for users of telecommunications where the powers that the Commerce Commision has around consumer service and consumer disputes will be strengthened.  Decisions requiring the Commission to regularly review any disputes process based on the sections of the Act that outline the objectives of a disputes process are welcomed and the industry should take note of those in ensuring their processes continue to improve.

However, there remains significant work that still needs to be undertaken as well as more detail that needs to be developed in the substantive parts of the proposal.  There are other changes made that need to be considered such as the impact of removing the restrictions on Chorus relating to layer 2 and end to end services.  TUANZ  will continue to speak out as the independent voice of users of ICT&T and represent members by engaging with parliament as the review proceeds and the Commerce Commission subsequently commences their work.

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15 December 2016

The recent report into the impact of broadband on productivity gains produced by researchers Motu misses the point, says TUANZ.

Motu’s report focuses on companies signing up for UFB between 2010 and 2014 – a period of fast growth in UFB uptake which saw usage more than doubled to 22% of all private sector firms with more than six employees.

However Motu has concluded that there is no gain in terms of productivity for those companies at all during the study period.

With respect, we feel Motu has studied the wrong companies at the wrong time and come to the wrong conclusion.

TUANZ CEO Craig Young says the real benefits of Ultra Fast Broadband won’t be seen in those companies that already had access to fibre services, but more likely in the vast number of Small to Medium Enterprise companies that are the true beneficiaries of the UFB project.

“Larger companies have had fibre for years. They tend to have already made the jump to faster broadband and they also tend to have their own IT infrastructure and services, so any benefit they see has already accrued by this point in time. Those companies signing up for UFB were more likely doing so to achieve a cost reduction in terms of broadband pricing, not productivity gains.”

Those SME companies that sign up for UFB are more likely to see a boost in terms of productivity, but only once they put UFB to work, not simply because they’ve signed up for UFB.

“Companies will take time to realise they can do business in different ways once they’ve got UFB installed. Previously they might have emailed their suppliers or business partners but with UFB they can share data more efficiently through cloud-based services, or by providing access directly into their own inventory or back end systems, for example.”

SME business owners, along with schools and medical facilities, are the real target market for UFB in terms of business use.

“TUANZ has long advocated for a public awareness campaign for SME owners so they can see the benefits of UFB and the RBI services. They need a lot more assistance in realising the positives of faster connectivity and we are working with MBIE and others in promoting those benefits.”

Regional economic development is the obvious opportunity for promotion, as regional fibre deployments have given the regions a leg-up in terms of competitiveness over central city companies.

“We have seen Whangarei, Tokoroa and Hamilton all complete their UFB builds and there’s a great opportunity to really make the most of it and build out our regional businesses.”

Xero founder Rod Drury has recently announced the accounting company is building a 30-seat call centre in Napier as part of his desire to see the regions prosper and TUANZ would like to see other companies follow suit.

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April 4, 2018

The TUANZ Rural Connectivity Symposium is back for 2016, on 28th April at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

Building on the valuable networks and relationships formed at the successful 2015 event, TUANZ will bring internet service providers, health providers and rural end-users of telecommunications together again to talk about the opportunities and challenges of internet access and connectivity in rural New Zealand.

This year’s symposium is being held in conjunction with Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (RHĀNZ), and New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF). It will kick off with an opening address from Communications Minister Amy Adams, and ‘State of the Nation’ speeches from agribusiness and banking leaders.

Each of the day’s speakers come from varied backgrounds, including health, farming, businesses and technology, and will share their thoughts about the future of connectivity in rural New Zealand.

TUANZ CEO Craig Young says that the focus of the day is going to be on how rural connectivity can provide better outcomes across three important areas: health, liveability, and business.

“The symposium provides a unique opportunity for those affected by rural connectivity in New Zealand to present a unified voice as the government begins to move into the next phase of the rural broadband initiative”, says Mr Young.

“RHĀNZ in partnership with TUANZ and NZYF is committed to influencing the debate and policy decisions around rural connectivity with the input of those most affected by the issue – the rural residents of New Zealand”, says RHĀNZ Chief Executive, Michelle Thompson.

Attendees will be actively involved during the symposium, with two workshop sessions, and panel discussions throughout the day. The partners will also publish a post-symposium paper as a summary of the major themes to emerge out of the day, both for distribution to attendees, and to help shape the thinking of internet providers and government policy makers.

If you are interested in helping rural communities be part of the 21st century in New Zealand, you can register to attend on the RHĀNZ and TUANZ websites.

The symposium is on Thursday 28th April from 9am–5pm, at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium, and will be followed by networking drinks. Registration costs $120 for TUANZ, RHĀNZ and NZYF members, or $250 for non-members.

ENDS