Telecom moving to single package

By PAUL BRISLEN

Telecom has demonstrated its third generation mobile data network in Auckland and is planning new services that will provide high-speed internet across multiple platforms.

General manager of mobile Kevin Kenrick said Telecom was moving towards a model where users could sign up to single packages giving high-speed access via mobile phones, "wi-fi" hotspots and fixed-line broadband.

"In effect, the customer would be purchasing a service and we would deliver it regardless of where they were or what equipment they were using."

To that end Telecom plans to combine its 3G network with its Wifi hotspot service when it announces its new plans next month.

"We've got to put together a single front-end dialler so users get that single interface to connect with either 3G or Wifi and potentially so it can chose the optimum network."

Telecom is working on a huge billing system that should be operational this year. Kenrick said that would allow the company to deliver the 3G service, to be known as T3G, with a number of attributes.

"It should be faster, with more certainty around the bill at the end of the month and it should be more cost-effective than it currently is."

That combination of better service at a cheaper rate should be an easy sell, especially compared with Vodafone's proposed 3G network.

Telecom is pitching its service at business users who want to send and receive data and connect remotely to corporate networks, whereas Vodafone is targeting consumers with high-end video calls and cheaper voice services.

Kenrick said Telecom looked closely at the technology Vodafone is using through its partnership with Australian mobile phone company Hutchison, which has been offering a 3G network for some time now.

Telecom had even issued a request for information for a New Zealand network to vendors.

"However, the approach we've adopted is to build the T3G network and offer service in conjunction with Wifi hotspots. By the end of the year we'll have around 300 hotspots throughout the country plus T3G up and running in key markets."

Existing business users will be able to trade in their 027 PC cards for new T3G cards at no cost.

They will be able to roam between the T3G network and Telecom's existing mobile coverage and make use of Telecom's Wifi network.