Frank March is both a Ministry of Economic Development official and president of InternetNZ. In part two of this Q and A with Stephen Bell he talks about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, whether InternetNZ will move into the telco user space and he considers the departing Telecom CEO's view of regulation.
In part two of our Q and A with departing Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds, he revisits the outages that plagued the XT network six months after its launch in 2009. He also discusses New Zealand's regulatory landscape, Telecom's deal with Sky TV, and what he might do when he leaves the telco.
When Paul Reynolds was appointed CEO of Telecom in 2007 the company was required to open up its access network to competitors and to operationally separate into three divisions. The following year the National government was elected, promising to fund a fibre to the home network. Telecom was pitted against the lines companies for the contracts, and was told it had to structurally separate if it wanted to take part. Late last year, following shareholder approval, the company was split and Chorus listed on the NZX. Having announced he will be leaving the company, Reynolds has been staying on until a successor is appointed. He talks to Sarah Putt about his five years as the boss of Telecom.
Telecom shareholders have voted to approve the structural separation of Telecom and Chorus.
An independent report by Grant Samuel included in a 532-page scheme booklet sent to Telecom’s shareholders yesterday recommends that the proposed demerger take place, despite risks for investors post-merger.
Telecom has released details of outgoing CEO Paul Reynolds’ pay package for the year to June.
Telecom has announced that CEO Paul Reynolds will leave next year, after the process of structurally separating Telecom is complete.
Telecom has announced that David Yuile has been appointed CEO of Telecom’s Australian business, AAPT.
Telecom intends to split into two separate companies nominally called Chorus2 and ServCo by the end of the year, in order to participate in the Ultra Fast Broadband network. Each company will have its own board, CEO, staff and an entirely separate public listing on the NZX.
Telecom has announced that acting Telecom Wholesale CEO Nick Clarke will now report directly to Mark Ratcliffe, CEO of Chorus.
Telecom has begun the process of selecting the senior management and governance roles for the two companies that will be created, should the Chorus demerger go ahead.
Highlights of the January-March quarter for Telecom include Gen-i winning the Fletcher Building mobile contract from Vodafone, an increase in the dividend from the Southern Cross cable to $23 million, from $14 million last year, and ongoing reductions in capital expenditure.
Telecom has announced that it has provided a "binding offer to Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH) in respect of the Crown’s Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB) initiative, and has accelerated the reorganisation of its business to meet the competitive challenge of a fibre-based world."
The telecommunications industry is on the cusp of massive change due to government intervention in the form of the Rural Broadband Initiative and Ultra Fast Broadband.
Telecom has responded to Telecommunications Minister Steven Joyce’s release of a supplementary order paper today.