Internet in New Zealand

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In New Zealand the major telephone company Telecom New Zealand owns the majority of the infrastructure and is the only provider of DSL, which they wholesale to their subsidiary Xtra (the largest ISP in New Zealand), as well as many of Telecom's "competitors", with varying speeds and download limits. Download speeds are usually 7.6 Mbit/s, but the ADSL2+ rollout has meant some locations have received speeds up to the maximum theoretical limit of 24 Mbit/s. Most services limit speeds (bandwidth cap) to 64 kbit/s after going over an allocated allowance, while others charge per MiB/GiB over a set limit.

Telecom has a monopoly on the local loop. There are alternatives such as Citylink Wellington 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. 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 Institute think-tank has estimated that the economic benefits of competitive broadband access could be worth as much as NZD $4.4 billion a year to New Zealand's gross domestic product. [1] [2]

The largest ISPs in New Zealand are Xtra (Telecom NZ), TelstraClear, ihug, Orcon, Slingshot, Woosh Wireless and Xnet (WorldxChange).

Contents

[edit] DSL History

  • 1999 - Telecom New Zealand began providing broadband internet by way of ADSL under the name JetStream. There was a progressive roll out into local exchanges. Telecom's JetStream services were offered by many different service providers, 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.
  • March 2004 - a 256 kbit/s home service was introduced with a 10 GB allowance for NZ$70.
  • 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 Jetstream plans.
  • In late 2005 Telecom cancelled previous wholesale arrangements for JetStream plans with other ISPs. Only Telecom's own ISP, Xtra, could sell plans faster than the UBS options and they still offer the 8 Mbit/s/800 kbit/s plans - now exclusively. ISPs ihug and Slingshot are still lobbying to have full-speed access to ADSL, at up to 8 Mbit/s
  • 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.
  • April 2006 - 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 (LLU).
  • May 2006 - Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) was announced as part of a comprehensive telecommunications package
  • March 2007 - Telecom starts to introduce ADSL2+ into local exchanges through their roll-out programme.

[edit] Current DSL

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.

The government has now mandated local loop unbundling, which allows other ISPs to setup their own infrastructure and services, 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 DSL and unconstrained UBS (which may see rapid changes in ISP offerings). The 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 will additionally take steps to encourage private sector investment in improving rural telecommunications services, and will take steps to further open up the marketplace to alternative delivery media, such as fibre optics, cable and satellite.

On the 26th of 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 - 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. Except for Telecom Retail DSL, Orcon, ihug, Woosh Wireless, Xnet and Supra, none of the other providers have chosen to offer plans with no caps.

[edit] Competitive broadband

TelstraClear (owned by Australia's dominant telecommunications company, Telstra) is Telecom's biggest competitor, investing heavily in infrastructure throughout New Zealand. They have been laying 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 also offering 10 Mbit/s down and 2 Mbit/s up.

There are multiple wireless broadband options from companies such as Vodafone, Woosh, & 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. This report summarises these possibilities as of September 2005.

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. Possibilities include ADSL2+ at speeds up to 24 Mbit/s (depending on distance from the exchange), Voice over IP (& 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.

[edit] Internet Exchange Points

For New Zealand Internet Exchange Points see:

[edit] High-Speed Networks

KAREN or Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network was set up in 2006, to link Universities and Crown Research Institutes within New Zealand via fibre-optic cable, with links to Sydney and Seattle (Pacific Northwest Gigapop) via the Southern Cross Cable, at speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (or 622 megabits per second to Seattle).

Weta Workshop, Weta Digital & Wingnuts in Wellington also have high-speed links provided by Citylink Wellington.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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