Pat O’Connell, CIO of Rank Group, a private company with manufacturing interests worldwide owned by Graeme Hart, is the new chairman of the Telecommunications Users Association.
He replaces Chris O'Connell, who will remain a member of the TUANZ Board, reports Computerworld NZ.
Some people are taking out personal loans to cover debts racked up after buying “smart” phones that can do everything from play a video to provide satellite navigation, according to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman in Australia.
“We're seeing an increasing number of complaints about 'bill shock', where people get internet or phone bills far higher than they expect,” ombudsman Deirdre O'Donnell says. “Bills can amount to thousands of dollars and some people have told us they've taken out personal loans to pay the debt.”
Mike Reynolds, CEO of 2degrees, says the biggest battle his company faces is being the third mobile phone network, breaking into a market with 100 per cent penetration by competitors.
Despite this, he says there is still tremendous room for growth.
Competition between Vodafone and Telecom’s new XT network will finally push open the mobile broadband floodgates, driving mobile growth up 19 percent to 5.516 million connections by 2013, according to IDC New Zealand.
Telecommunications research manager, Rosalie Nelson, says that New Zealand already has more mobile connections than people, with 110 percent mobile penetration by the end of 2008.
New entrant mobile operator Black + White is confident its wholesale agreement with Vodafone won’t suffer the same fate as TelstraClea's agency agreement.
In July last year, Vodafone assumed direct control of all 30,000 mobile customers who had bought services through TelstraClear under the agency agreement that expired on June 30, 2007.
Thanks to the power of Apple's marketing machine, it's likely most people have heard of the iPhone - and want one.
But it's far less likely at this stage that employers will foot the bill to kit their workers out with the coveted handsets, and corporate technology departments are all but certain to bar iPhone owners from putting the device on the company network as well.
AAPT's former chief operating officer, Bob Hennessy, has left the embattled Australian arm of Telecom New Zealand to become the managing director of BearingPoint's financial services business in Australia.
Mr Hennessy began at the management consultant firm last month following five years as a key player in AAPT's push to take on the telecommunications giants Telstra and Optus. His move follows a period of significant internal change at AAPT after its $357 million acquisition of Powertel last May.
Enterprises are facing an exploding "culture of connectivity," with global information workers using an increasing number of devices and applications, according to an IDC study released this week.
Telecom New Zealand is gaining ground in its bid to win more corporate information and communications technology services work in Australia.
The company's trans-Tasman ICT services division, Gen-i Australasia, revealed last week it had won a series of local contracts worth more than $100 million late last year.
Telecom has announced the leadership of two of its operational units.
Mark Ratcliffe, currently chief operating officer technology and enterprises, has been appointed CEO-designate of Telecom's network business, or Access Network Services.
Corporate communications are entering a new phase. Instead of phone numbers being associated with devices, they will be associated with people.
As companies have moved to embrace IP communications, so too have workers embraced ever more sophisticated digital devices. A year ago, dual-mode phones capable of connecting to cellular as well as running VoIP [voice over internet protocol] over wireless data networks were promising major improvements in corporate communications. Now newer, smarter phones, capable of not only connecting to any network but even discerning coverage and cost differences, are heralding smarter solutions.
AAPT, the troubled Australian arm of Telecom NZ, is set to turn the corner this month as it moves into cash flow-positive territory for the first time.
Chief executive Paul Broad said operating costs had come down and the culture of the company was changing to reflect its true position in the Australian market.
Field service automation is one of the most advanced areas for mobile applications development among enterprises, and at US$280-million-per year laundry services provider Mac-Gray, IT managers say such a project has helped the company clean up both its operations and fuel growth.
Tracing its roots back to 1927, when the publicly-held company became the nation’s first certified distributor of Maytag brand washing machines, Mac-Gray currently provides laundry outsourcing services to an estimated 58,000 U.S. locations.