KEY POINTS:
Vodafone's new network joining the high-speed broadband race should be a warning to Telecom, says Orcon boss Scott Bartlett.
Bartlett today welcomed Vodafone's new Red Network which, like Orcon's, uses ADSL2+ technology.
"It's a pretty clear signal to Telecom that the game has changed," he said.
"When you've had a monopoly for 80 years and then serious competition starts to enter the market, slowly but surely things are going to change. This means a lot more competition for them.
"And when you build your own network you have certain advantages over the incumbent - like the ability to use the latest and fastest equipment. This can only be a good thing for consumers."
Bartlett admits that Orcon's ADSL2+ network, like Vodafone's Red Network, is limited by subscribers' distance from an exchange.
A Parnell-based nzherald.co.nz reader this week pointed out that he was getting speeds akin to dial-up on his Orcon ADSL2+ plan - showing just where the systems' weakness lies.
Broadband speeds are extremely dependent on the distance subscribers are from the exchange - and Bartlett says the swanky suburb is one of the worst areas for ADSL2+.
"It's just the nature of physics," he said.
"Parnell is a problem area, it doesn't have its own exchange, it connects to either Remuera or to the Auckland CBD. Unfortunately for Parnell, both of these are at least three kilometres away."
While ADSL2+ can run as quickly as 24 megabits per second, average speeds are far lower than that.
Bartlett says Orcon is currently delivering 11 Mbps to its customers on the Orcon@home+ service.
"I think 11 megabits per second is still pretty damn good," he says, "it's more than twice as fast as anything Telecom can offer."
But Telecom spokesperson Mark Watts rejected any claim that Orcon's ADSL2+ broadband was twice as fast as Telecom's.
Mr Watts said Telecom had been upgrading their broadband network since mid 2007 with ADSL2+ broadband technology.
"Our rollout of ADSL2+ technology is now well advanced and available already to a number of customers in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Dunedin," Mr Watts said.
- NZ HERALD
