NZ Post has replaced its frame-relay network, which serviced 330 retail outlets, with an all-IP network complete with 1,200 IP EFTPOS terminals.
Telecom and its subsidiary Gen-i won the business from the incumbent telecommunications provider, TelstraClear.
To upgrade the TelstraClear system would have meant significant investment in new routers, says NZ Post head of infrastructure and operations Harish Mistry.
The NZ Post retail network is one of the largest in New Zealand, and it’s the first time since it was installed in 1990 that Telecom has provided data services.
Mistry says the changeover was completed over 27 nights and the new IP service went live in March.
“It provides significant operational savings,” he says. “Kiwibank terminals required further capability, such as higher speed and more bandwidth, and we have an upcoming change programme for Post Shops where we will be changing applications over the next couple of years. We wanted to do more than SNA [System network architecture] could provide.”