Canada is moving toward a regime that would make it tricky for telcos to lock cellphones.

Being told your call is "important" while being made to wait on hold indefinitely is universally irritating, so imagine wasting 43 days on the line.

Telecom has made a radical shift in the way it buys advertising in the media. New Zealand's biggest advertiser spends about $25 million, an advertising industry source said, though the exact figure could not be verified at print time.

TelstraClear outpaced its rivals during December and offered customers the fastest web browsing speeds, according to a broadband testing service.

Apple's stock has slipped below $US500 for the first time in 11 months as investors react to reports signalling the company's latest iPhone is falling behind its Android rivals.

Neil Riley, from Wellington, was livid about the quality of a stick he bought in Hamilton last year.

Telecom has tapped former Vodafone NZ boss Tim Miles on the shoulder to head up Gen-i.

Telecom's goodwill gesture in the wake of last week's broadband outages has drawn criticism from customers who already get free national calls.

Telecom has announced flat-rate data plans for its customers travelling overseas, with CEO Simon Moutter saying they would be easier for customers to understand.

Twenty years ago this week, when humans still roamed the Earth freely without buzzing or beeping, a UK engineer unleashed the world's first text message.

After 20 years of texting technology, New Zealanders are still avid text messagers, despite a decline in use overseas as smartphones take over.