Power firm offers a bundle of broadband

By ADAM GIFFORD

The battle for the broadband customer dollar kicked off in Franklin County yesterday, but the service providers are still holding back their best offers.

Lines company Counties Power launched Wired Country at its Pukekohe headquarters, pledging to bring power company thinking and pricing models to the broadband market.

That means selling a network capable of high-speed voice or data, using a mix of fibre-optic cabling and wireless equipment.

Wired Country has already laid fibre around the business and industrial parts of Pukekohe, in new subdivisions and along the road towards Papakura.

Where fibre is not economic, the company will offer wireless equipment, with the first sites ready in July or August.

It is charging a monthly rental that covers access and equipment charges to Worldwide Packets fibre or Remec wireless modem and antenna.

Residential customers will pay an installation fee of $70.

Four retailers have lined up so far: Iconz, The Packing Shed, ihug and TelstraClear.

Since March, Iconz has been signing up business customers on a 256 kilobits per second (Kbps) "all you can eat" internet-only deal for $99 a month (plus GST), or 512Kbps for $120 a month.

Pukekohe internet provider The Packing Shed signed a reseller deal last week, and ihug and TelstraClear joined in time for the launch.

The last two are expected to offer voice services, but refuse to say when.

Tristan Joll, ihug's business and wholesale products marketing manager, said its present voice offering was a toll bypass product, and it was not yet ready to take advantage of Wired Country's voice capacity.

Ihug is reselling the FastGlass DataBurst product to businesses for $235 a month, and will push a $80 a month, 128 Kbps offering for other users once the wireless network is in place.

Counties Power chief executive Neil Simmonds said voice circuits ($25 a month more for residential users or $30 for businesses) could be operating within two weeks once "someone asks us to do it".

TelstraClear spokesman Matthew Bolland said the company was "planning to do a pilot for high-speed internet". He declined to spell out what services might be on offer.

But the fact that Wired Country is a readymade network points to a quick setup time for the telco once technical questions are resolved.

In its comparable Wellington and Christchurch networks, TelstraClear offers a 256Kbps internet connection and 10GB a month download limit for $59.95 monthly (GST included) plus the $17 cable modem rental. With a phone line the cost goes up to $69.95.

Wired Country sells 256Kbps data access plus the modem rental for $35 (plus GST) a month, with another $25 for residential voice access. The retailers then add their costs for international bandwidth and overheads, plus providing free local calls - probably between $35 and $50.

The selling point then becomes how useful customers judge the data services, and how TelstraClear or other voice providers treat tolls.

Many Pukekohe residents take advantage of Telecom's Favourite Place Close to Home offering and pay $19.95 a month for unlimited toll calls to Auckland.

Simmonds said competitors offering voice on Wired Country did not need to be bound by Telecom's local calling areas.

Some potential customers had considered making all of New Zealand a local call. "Others talk about having one rate for calls anywhere in the world," he said.

"I am expecting to pay the same as I pay now for dialup phone and tolls. I don't expect it to go up, and I will have the high-speed internet as well."

While Wired Country will offer a 128Kbps entry-level service once its wireless network is running, Simmonds said the pitch would be that higher speeds were better.

"We want to get our fibre lit up."

It will also discourage phone-only sales, which are fairly unlikely given that switching from Telecom means a change in phone number.


All-in-one billing

What a Franklin phone bill might look like

Provider service cost

Wired Country 64Kbps voice connection $25

Wired Country Fastwave 120 connection $25

Retailer X 128Kbps internet $25*


Retailer Y untimed local voice calls $10*

TOTAL $85


Residential users will be able to choose from a variety of retailers who are likely to offer a bundle of services including local and toll calls, voice mail and fast internet.

*estimates