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Dateline: 11 June 1999 All-day Edition Read Yesterday's Edition
Telecom Enrages Net Users And ISPs
According to Telecom's Glen Sowry, this isn't an extra fee that anyone should
end up paying -- it only applies to those who don't use the new 0867 prefix.
Sowry says the 0867 prefix will allow Telecom to route data calls through an
"intelligent network" that is better able to cope with the stress that Net
users are placing on the public telephone network.
Tim Wood from IHUG is not impressed. He says it's stupid for Telecom to
launch a flat-rate service on the one hand and then complain that Net use
is overloading their network on the other. Sowry counters that claim by
stating that all of XTRA's dial-up customers use Telecom's IPNet service
which already handles calls more intelligently.
When questioned about the cost of this change, Sowry naively commented that
"we are making the new numbers available free of charge to ISPs." Asked
about the huge costs that some ISPs will face when they're forced to throw
out stocks of existing "Startup" disks and deal with what could be a mountain
of help-desk calls from users wanting to update their dialers and avoid the
two cent per minute fee Sowry would only say "we will be providing ISPs with
assistance in moving their users to the new numbers." He would not be drawn
as to whether this "assistance" would also include any kind of compensation
or financial assistance to cover the costs involved. "ISPs need to talk
to us on a one-to-one basis to establish exactly what kind of assistance
is provided" he said.
A significant number of ISPs have contacted Aardvark to voice their concern
over this latest dictate from Telecom. Most have cited their belief that
any attempt to charge residential users a "per-minute" fee for using their
phones is a breach of the Kiwi Share. Telecom's Glen Sowry says "our advice
is that this isn't a breach of the Kiwi Share."
Another point voiced by many ISPs is the total lack of consultation involved
in the production of this "solution" to the problem of extra load on the
phone system. One ISP commented "perhaps they ought to spend just a little
more of their profit on making sure their network and switches are up to the
task rather than looking for another way to hit users and competitors in the pocket."
Despite Telecom's assurances to Aardvark that all ISPs had been given advance
notice of the change, many of those spoken to yesterday had heard nothing
until Thursday afternoon -- just an hour or so before a press release was
issued to the media.
Other Reports On This Story:
Well that's the objective reporting out of the way. If you want the commentary
then check out
Aardvark Weekly
What do you think? Why not save up those comments and have your say
when the forums are fixed? :-)
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10 June 99
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Aardvark Daily is a publication of, and is copyright to, Bruce Simpson, all rights reserved
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