I currently have an iPhone 4…it is nearly time to renew it.
I have also recently become very, very annoyed with Vodafone. I spend a not inconsequential sum of money with them and the last few customer service interactions have been less than desirable.
I also find their network coverage annoying with regular drop outs of service in spots there shouldn’t ever be. So should I stay or should I go…I certainly don’t feel like a wanted customer. Read more »
via raglan23.co.nz
Yesterday I observed NBR’s Chris Keall getting excited like a little boy about Telecom’s Free WiFi at phone boxes scheme – WiFi Zone. Repeated tweets, articles and even hurried corrections as his excitement got away on him and he had to adjust some of the fantastic numbers (3000 phone boxes with free WiFi? No.)
The fact is, I didn’t realise why it was so exciting to Chris. I’ve been walking and driving past the blasted things for about 6 months now.
Part of a pilot scheme, these have been deployed in parts of New Zealand where the tourists normally flock to. But as you do when you live away from the bigger cities, you simply assume that they had it all first.
Not so. And that’s the reason behind Chris’ excitement.
So I decided to pop down the road and see what is actually involved, and how they operate. I happen to have a Nokia Lumia 920 I’m using right now (you’ll see some posts about that later), and locked on with the WiFi signal. It asked me to enter my phone number, and it texted me a 4 letter code. Once I typed it in, it was all go from there. You’re allowed to use up to 1 GB of data per day that way, which is quite generous if you’re on a smartphone data plan and you need to push a big document up while on the road.
via telkom.co.za
As I reported yesterday, the cluster**** that is Yahoo!Xtra email continues to be a severe problem for both Xtra account holders that have had their accounts compromised, and the rest of us who are in some cases receiving a deluge of spam emails clogging up the normal daily routine.
It is only normal that the Herald On Sunday would run a piece on it.
One Telecom customer was getting 20 nuisance messages a minute.
Telecom’s troubled email service is suffering a fresh spate of problems just days after the New Zealand telco announced it would stick with Australian-based Yahoo.
Clare Curran must like conducting corporate vandalism.
Telecom falls 1.33% on the day of Clare Curran’s announcement of 1,500 pending job losses:
Telecom could be set to axe up to 1500 jobs, in what would be the single largest job loss of any single company in New Zealand.
Labour’s communications and IT spokeswoman Clare Curran says Telecom are set to announce up to 1500 job cuts.
Telecom has already cut 373 permanent jobs, and future cuts are believed to be planned over two to three years.
In February, Telecom boss Simon Moutter said the telco would cut jobs from its base of 7603 staff, and did not rule out more than a thousand jobs going.
Ms Curran said she had been told by a source that Telecom would make the cuts this month, and the board of the company were due to meet next week.
This is a review provided by the wife of a long term reader of the blog.
Before I begin this I should point out that we are an iPhone family.
Admittedly my two previous phones from the Apple family have been hand me downs from my partner but I have been amazed at how these phones work, the features and apps available have made life easier and I have found myself able to do most of my online work and leisure through the handset rather than having to switch on the computer.
So it was with some scepticism I received the news that I was to be given a new phone to trial and it was not an Apple. Big boots to fill you could say.
My requirements beyond the usual making and receiving phone calls and texting the kids have grown to fit the modern smartphone world with email, taking photos, Facebook and browsing the web becoming an increasing part of my usage.
The first thing that struck me upon opening the box was the wireless charging. Quite how it works is a complete mystery but surely all rechargeable items will be using a similar method soon. You just lay the phone on the charging pad and hey presto! No more knotted wires, no more trying to plug it in. Just put the phone on the pad and away it goes. Read more »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TELECOM, VODAFONE, KIM DOTCOM AND TELSTRA INTEND TO CO-INVEST IN NEW AUCKLAND-SYDNEY TELECOMMUNICATIONS CABLE
19 February 2013
Telecom, Vodafone, Kim Dotcom and Telstra announced today they have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to co-invest in the construction of a new submarine cable between Auckland and Sydney.
The new cable, tentatively titled the Multiplex eFibre Global Access (MEGA) Cable, will significantly improve New Zealand’s international telecommunications connectivity as well as strengthen links into fast-growing Asian markets.
The total cost of the MEGA cable is expected to be less than US$60 million. The cable will incorporate four fibre pairs with a current design capacity of 40 terabits per second – approximately 400 times the current internet data demand out of New Zealand.
The MEGA partners expect to finalise the design within the next few months, with a likely completion date of mid to late 2014. Read more »
Sorry really isn’t the hardest word if it’s the only thing left to say.
Fresh from a 7 hour Telecom Broadband outage earlier in the day, Chris Quin, CEO of Telecom NZ (Retail) is forced to make another “aw shucks” social media appearance at half past midnight after another 2.5 hour debacle.
Most of us are pretty forgiving, even when a major part of the nation’s infrastructure goes on the blink. But the third problem in two weeks, and twice the same day, is starting to get the unpleasant smell of the farcical XT Launch.
It is time Telecom stop “sincerely apologising” and start explaining what is going on, and what is being done to prevent it from happening again.
Like ports, roads and other critical infrastructure, telecommunication services have a direct effect on our ability to function as a nation, and repeated problems have real consequences on individuals and companies’ bottom lines.
The XT fiasco claimed the scalp of Frank Mount. It can’t be too many more Broadband outages before another Telecom employee will need to jump before they are pushed.
UPDATE: Since this post was queued for publication, there have been at least two more outages. One at 3am, and one around 8am today.
Someone better spend the day fluffing up their CV.
I was on Larry Williams show last night doing The Huddle. With me was David Farrar who took the left wing point of view.
Remember Telecom and the Saatchi and Saatchi inspired “Abstain for the game“?
You know, the one with Sean Fitzpatrick driving a pink fist, telling people to not have sex?
The genius people behind Telecom’s marketing have now chosen a snail to help promote the Apple iPhone.
Yes, that’s right, the one example of fauna synonymous with extreme slowness and sliminess, is used to help promote a phone that is supposed to represent cutting-edge technology.
I imagine the marketing folks at Apple (you know, the people who like to associate their products with very fast apex predators) will have a few words with Telecom’s marketing geniuses.
The name of the campaign is “Why Telecom?”
It needs a comma. “Why, Telecom?”
I am in the market at the moment for my mobile service. So it is with some interest that I read the Herald on SUnday article about mobile network pricing. Whilst pricing is an issue, coverage is more of a factor as I am sick to death of drop outs…and being connected in order to fulfil my role as NZ’s top bloggers is very important.
The cost of some mobile services is still too high, says a consumer watchdog, despite competition driving down prices.
It was revealed this week that the industry’s newest entrant, 2degrees, has amassed a million customers. Vodafone is still the biggest player, with 2.4 million customers, followed by Telecom.
…
Venture Consulting found that since the third quarter of 2007, New Zealanders had saved $1.36 billion, about 25 per cent, off their phone bills as a result of increasing competition. Virtually all services have dropped in price.
Between 2008-09 and 2010-11, mobile-to-international calls on average dropped from almost 60c per minute to just over 45c.
Mobile-to-fixed line calls dropped from 35c per minute to just over 20c per minute and off-network calls, those made from one mobile network to another, dropped from just under 50c per minute to less than 40c.
The average price of sending a text has also dropped, from just below 10c from one network to another in 2008-09 to just over 5c in 2010-11.
The price of an on-network text has been stagnant at about 2c and international texts have dropped from an average 23.5c to just under 20c.
