Worldcom dumps Voyager residential customers

6:00 pm - By MICHAEL FOREMAN

Another internet service provider is to close after Worldcom, the United States parent of Auckland-based Voyager, has decided to suspend its consumer
operations in New Zealand.

Approximately 11,000 Voyager residential customers will be forced to seek alternative connection arrangements from 31 December but, according to Worldcom, business customers will not be affected.

Worldcom spokesman David Bathur claimed the move had been prompted by a decision to specialise in corporate services, but the company would continue to service residential customers in Australia through its subsidiary Ozemail, Australia's second largest ISP.

Mr Bathur would not say how many employees would be laid off at Voyager but he said some staff would be retained in New Zealand to run its corporate services.

It is understood that Voyager presently employs a total of 12 people, of which nine are call centre staff, but industry sources suggested Voyager would effectively become a shell brand in New Zealand as its business customers were being largely supported by Ozemail staff in Australia.

Voyager, which was formed in 1995, employed 25 people at its height and last year claimed to have 27,000 residential customers.

An email sent to Voyager's residential customers today said arrangements had been made to easily transfer their accounts to Telecom-owned Xtra.

Xtra spokesman Matt Bostwick said Xtra's usual $27.50 joining fee would be waived for former Voyager customers and email addressed to voyager.co.nz
addresses would be forwarded free of charge for six months.

Matthew Solus, a spokesman for E3, the ISP which recently took over Asia Online's local business after its overseas parent decided to pull out of New
Zealand, said ex-Xtra customers joining E3 would not be billed until February 31.