KEY POINTS:
One of the first things Telecom's new boss Paul Reynolds will do when he joins the company next month is undertake a review of Telecom's next generation network plans, according to an interview Reynolds did recently with UK-based TelecomTV.
Until that's completed, there's unlikely to be any developments around Telecom's NGN and the broadband plans on offer from Telecom are unlikely to change.
"I want to examine those plans and the broadband plans... exactly what the deployment is in New Zealand and exactly what the answer is for New Zealand I don't know yet," Reynolds told TelecomTV.
"It's not just a case of picking up what we've done in the UK and putting it in New Zealand. The market conditions are bound to be different and time has moved on a little bit. We'll see, I'll examine plans and make some plans quickly."
Telecom basically stopped talking about the great new things its NGN network would be able to do over a year ago when the regulatory blowtorch was applied to it with the Government's decision to unbundle the local loop.
While Reynolds current employer, British Telecom, is making its 21CN network its major priority, the regulatory uncertainty facing Telecom means its hamstrung in doing any extensive planning around the NGN.
Even the release today of discussion paper around changes to the Telecommunications Service Obligation has serious potential implications for the NGN.
Reynolds acknowledges that he'll be preoccupied with regulatory matters on his arrival.
"The number one priority when I get there is to complete a body of work that is underway now and get the regulatory settlement with the government over the access network which is something that is going on in many markets around the world. New Zealand is taking quite a progressive stance to it," he said in the TelecomTV interview.
"I've got something to add to that discussion obviously from experience in the UK. The priority will be to get those issues settled and agreed so the organization can look forward with absolute clarity and certainty and focus on its customers."
On another note, Reynolds claims he is happy about Telecom's move to shift its headquarters to Auckland, because the weather will be better there.
