Telecom takes on Trade Me

Telecom has Trade Me in their sights. Picture / Tracey Robinson

Telecom is set to go head-to-head with online auction website Trade Me.

The country's biggest telco will launch an extensive new online trading and shopping website this month, the National Business Review reported today.

The telco is understood to have been developing the auction website -- code named "Project Sparkys" -- for the past few months, inviting various online retailers and resellers to list their products on the planned site.

Industry speculation suggests the launch, expected on October 17, will be accompanied by an extensive publicity campaign dreamed up by Telecom's advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi.

Trade Me founder and managing director Sam Morgan siad he had not heard of the project, but said he was not fazed by it.

"We're flattered that they're focusing on us, but we'll just let the numbers speak for themselves," he told the weekly business paper.

"We'd just prefer it if they focused their attention on trying to actually get broadband out there, rather than going into markets where they don't really have any capability."

Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung said at the telco's annual meeting yesterday that new technology will play a big part in future earnings, with traditional land line revenue -- domestic and international calls -- now accounting for less than half of annual turnover.

Telecom plans to have 250,000 broadband clients by Christmas.

Telecom announced to the Stock Exchange late last month that it had appointed Ralph Brayham, formerly the telco's general manager new media and business development, to head "Sparkys". It gave no details about what "Sparkys" was.

Trade Me clocked up nearly 2.3 million visitors in September, according to Neilsen NetRatings figures.

It was the country's second most popular site in terms of monthly unique visitors, close behind Telecom's xtramsn.co.nz which had over 2.4 million visitors in September. Mr Morgan declined to comment on Trade Me's revenue, but said non-vehicle and non-real estate items worth $300-400 million are traded on the site each year. The site facilitates about 300 car sales a day.

- NZPA