Broker Forsyth Barr is tipping a drop in profit at Spark when the NZX's biggest listed company reports its half-year result tomorrow.

Yesterday's five-hour long service outage meant smart phones were useless for customers in many parts of the North Island.

A breakdown at telecommunications giant Spark impacted data, texts, and phone calls for customers in many parts of the North Island tonight.

New Zealand shares fell yesterday from a record close paced by Meridian Energy, Precinct Properties New Zealand and Spark New Zealand, as the appetite waned.

Vocus Communications, the Australian fibre network and data centre company, has agreed with Spark New Zealand to form a new construction joint venture, Connect 8.

New Zealand shares rose yesterday, heading back towards a record high after a two-day slide.

New Zealand shares fell for a second day as the kiwi dollar's slide to a four-year low sapped overseas investor appetite for high-yielding stocks.

New Zealand shares rose to a new record close yesterday as holidays in Auckland and Australia kept trading volumes light.

Spark is giving away its subscription video-on-demand service Lightbox to broadband subscribers to encourage people towards online entertainment and uncapped broadband deals.

Vodafone is on "shaky ground" in raising its fibre internet prices along with copper-line broadband charges, says InternetNZ.

The country's three biggest internet companies are planning to charge customers more from next month and the general manager at one of them doesn't think broadband will ever be as cheap as it was....

The battle of video-on-demand is stepping up as Spark's Lightbox announces a new studio deal with one of the world's biggest content providers.

Online TV service Lightbox and Coliseum Sports Media have signed a 50:50 partnership but at this stage they are not promising lower prices.

Spark Telecommunications company Spark under the strong leadership of Simon Moutter has this year reclaimed the top spot as the most valuable company on the NZX.

Some Aucklanders were without broadband for up to 12 hours after a fault with Chorus cut the internet connection.

An issue with broadband electronics was behind the outage that caused 15,000 Auckland households to lose internet overnight.

Spark says it has 'no choice' but to hike retail prices for its home phone and broadband plans, a move that will kick in from February.

Cloud computing is built on data centres which are sprouting out of the ground like weeds at the moment around the world.

Chorus shares rose to a 13-month high after the Comcom lifted the price it can charge for access to its copper lines.

Everyone's poring over the Commerce Commission's draft decision on ye olde copper phone line network. And no one's happy.

Spark has warned that its prices could rise after the Commerce Commission this morning proposed a new wholesale rate that Chorus can charge retailers.

Simon Moutter talks about how he's navigating Spark through a period of unprecedented disruption in the telecommunications industry.