It's a telephone network ... but not as we know it

Paul Reynolds with Marshall Laing pupils (from left) Khadija Bari, Nikhil Chand, Thomas Tomokino, Scott Hughes and Katie Heslop, all aged 10. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Technology-mad primary school students yesterday became the first in the country to be connected over Telecom's new telephone network.

Sitting in Telecom's head office with chief executive Paul Reynolds, Marshall Laing Primary School student Katie Heslop, 10, answered a call from her classmates in the company's downtown offices.

While the students were using regular phone equipment and didn't notice any difference in the voice quality, the call came to them over the new Voice over internet Protocol network.

From next year, Telecom customers will begin making calls via VoIP, which uses internet technology to deliver voice and data information. The existing phone network - a mish-mash of technologies - will be closed in 2020.

Dr Reynolds said home phones would be able to plug into the new network. The only difference would be the technology used to deliver the call.

The Marshall Laing students are part of a group called the Gigabytes, who help to run their Mt Roskill school's computer systems.

Principal Delanee Dale said forming the Gigabytes had created a real buzz about technology in the school.