Spark New Zealand

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Spark Sport
)

Spark New Zealand Limited
PredecessorNew Zealand Post Office
Founded1 April 1987; 37 years ago (1 April 1987)
HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
Area served
New Zealand
Key people
  • Justine Smyth, Chair[1]
  • Jolie Hodson, Chief Executive
  • Stefan Knight, Finance Director
  • Grant McBeath, Customer Director
  • Mark Beder, Technology Director
  • Matt Bain, Marketing Director
  • Heather Polglase, HR Director
  • Melissa Anastasiou, General Counsel
  • Tessa Tierney, Product Director
Services
RevenueDecrease NZ$3,531,000,000 (2015)[2]
Increase NZ$962,000,000 (2015)[2]
Decrease NZ$375,000,000 (2015)[2]
Total assetsNZ$3,207,000,000 (2015)[2]
Total equityNZ$1,778,000,000 (2015)[3]
Number of employees
5,562 (2016)[3]
Divisions
  • Spark Home, Mobile and Business
  • Spark Wholesale
  • Spark Digital
  • Spark Ventures
  • Spark Connect
  • Spark Foundation
  • Skinny Mobile
Website

Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications and digital services company providing fixed-line telephone services, mobile phone services, broadband, and digital technology services including cloud, security, digital transformation, and managed services. Its customers range from consumers to small - medium business, government agencies and large enterprise clients. It was formerly known as Telecom New Zealand until it was rebranded to Spark in 2014. It has operated as a publicly traded company since 1990. Spark's mobile network reaches 98% of New Zealand, with over 2.5 million mobile connections and 704,000 broadband connections[4]

Spark is one of the largest companies by value on the

New Zealand Exchange (NZX). As of 2007, it was the 39th largest telecommunications company in the OECD.[5] The company is part of New Zealand Telecommunications Forum
.

Telecom New Zealand was formed in 1987 from a division of the

local loop unbundling initiatives by central government – Telecom Retail; Telecom Wholesale; and Chorus, the network infrastructure division. This separation effectively ended any remnants of monopoly that Telecom Retail once had in the market. In 2011 the demerger process was complete, with Telecom and Chorus becoming separate listed companies.[6] The company changed its name to Spark New Zealand on 8 August 2014.[7]

Spark has 63 retail locations around New Zealand, including 16 in Auckland.[8]

History

The Postal Services Act 1987 split the then

ANZ in 1989) and all three industries progressively deregulated. The selling price of Telecom was considered by some to be extremely low, given that Telecom had a monopoly of all phone lines in New Zealand at the time.[9]

1990s

In 1990, Telecom was sold to two United States-based telecommunications companies,

Verizon Communications (formerly Bell Atlantic) and Ameritech, for NZ$4.25 billion.[10] After Telecom was privatized, the Kiwi Share agreement was drawn up, which included a provision that the company retained free local calling for residential customers.[11]

In 1991, Telecom listed on the New Zealand, Australian and New York stock exchanges. The following year Telecom implemented a NZ$200 million fibre-optic cable connection between Australia and New Zealand. Also in 1991,

mobile network to compete with Telecom.[citation needed
]

Clear Communications reached an agreement with Telecom in 1995 on local service interconnection. Also in 1995, Telecom created First Media Ltd to develop a cable television network across Auckland and Wellington, called First TV. In 1996 Telecom established a telephone exchange in the United States for international traffic, and launched Xtra.[citation needed]

1997 saw Telecom buy back NZ$1 billion of its shares. The following year, Ameritech sold down its 24.8% shareholding in an international public offering, and Bell Atlantic issued exchangeable notes that were convertible into the Telecom shares that it owned.

In December 1997[12] Patricia Reddy was appointed to the Telecom board. She remained on it until 2008.[13] In September 2016 as Dame Patsy Reddy she became the Governor General of New Zealand.[citation needed]

In 1998, Southern Cross Cables Limited (half owned by Telecom) announced plans to build a fibre-optic cable linking New Zealand with Australia and North America. Vodafone Group bought BellSouth and started a campaign to attract Telecom customers to its network. [14]

In 1999, Telecom established a presence in Australia, buying 78% of

Rod Deane moving to the position of chairman.[citation needed
]

2000s

The original Telecom logo

In 2000, Xtra signed up its 300,000th customer.[citation needed] Telecom also raised its shareholding in AAPT to 100%.[citation needed]

Evidence emerged in early 2002 of Telecom having exploited an ill-considered, or fraudulently made to order, accounting standard (FRS38) to inflate its year 2001 reported profit by some $263 million.[15] This standard required holding companies to incorporate profits and losses of associate companies into their group accounts by way of "equity accounting" except when the associate is insolvent. Being insolvent has been wrongly taken as substantial evidence that the holding company will no longer share in the associates profits and losses. The associate company Southern Cross Cables paid Telecom $263 million in dividends as per (note 2 of) Telecom's 2001 annual accounts,[16] $US200m as per Southern Cross's annual accounts.[17] Southern Cross opened for (limited) business in November 2000 and its income from operations to 30 June 2001 was only $US13 million ($US55 million for the 2002 year). Southern Cross were insolvent to the extent of $US24 million as at 30 June 2000 and this increased to $US280 million as at June 2001 as a result of the dividends and other (net) expenses ($328 million in 2002). The dividends were treated as income in Telecom's accounts there being nothing in FRS 28 to say that they should not be although such inclusion did breach an overall requirement that the accounts present a fair view.[citation needed]

In 2003, a new logo was launched.

better source needed
]

In 2004, Telecom purchased Gen-i Ltd (in May) and Computerland Ltd (in September). The company had 36 retail stores around the country.[19] During the year, the company won the Roger Award for The Worst Transnational Corporation operating in New Zealand.[citation needed]

In 2005, Telecom introduced "Bitstream", a 256 kbit ADSL service sold at wholesale prices (at approximately 10% below the retail price) to other ISPs. Telecom also posted a profit of NZ$916 million. The company also launched online retail store Ferrit launches with about 150 retailers.[20]

2006
  • 9 May: An audio clip recorded on 2 March was released involving Telecom CEO Theresa Gattung admitting the use of confusion as a chief marketing tool in the industry. The March recording also dismissed the New Zealand Government as "too smart to do anything dumb" with regards to regulation.[21]
  • Late May: Roderick Deane resigns as chairman, and is replaced by Wayne Boyd the following month.[citation needed]
  • July: Matt Crockett is appointed CEO of Telecom's newly formed Wholesale division.[22]
  • All Computerland branches around New Zealand are rebranded as Gen-i.[citation needed]
2007
  • 16 January: The Librarians Association of New Zealand put in a complaint about a Telecom advertisement where 3 young school children state that, "Only dumb kids read books, brainy kids have broadband." Originally Telecom stated that is the views of the young children and not Telecom and the advertisement was unscripted, later that week Telecom choose to edit the advertisement to remove the comments made by the children.[citation needed]
  • 19 January: It is reported that Paritai Drive, Ōrākei, one of the richest streets in Auckland, is still not capable of receiving a broadband SL service and there are many other well populated areas around New Zealand still not capable of receiving broadband. Opposition Woosh Wireless immediately tested their service in the area and gave residents the opportunity to join their wireless broadband service.[23][24]
  • 5 February: Telecom announces that from March 2007 they will begin rolling out
    ADSL2+
    , more than a year after originally stated for roll out.
  • 31 March: Telecom shuts down its old 025 D-AMPS/TDMA network with all 025 phones changed to 027 (CDMA).[citation needed]
  • May 2007:
    British Telecom have been in discussion with the New Zealand government regarding Telecom's monopoly control of the NZ broadband network. Three to four years previously, British Telecom were in a similar position to that which NZ Telecom are now in; the British broadband network has since been broken up and the NZ government are keen to learn and possibly copy the development/regulatory/investment model used by the British firm.[citation needed
    ]
  • The
    Auckland Chamber of Commerce publicly stated that if Telecom did not invest in a next-generation high-speed network, comparable with that of other Western nations, they would fund a private fibre-optic based service in the 100 megabit speed range. The proposed coverage of this would be within 200m of a path running south from Auckland CBD (situated to allow as many businesses as possible to connect). Any company or private individual within this range would be offered a connection.[citation needed
    ]
  • 28 June: Telecom announced that Paul Reynolds, CEO of
    BT Wholesale, has been selected as the new CEO, to start on 27 September.[25] Simon Moutter was appointed as acting CEO in the interim.[26]
  • 30 June: Theresa Gattung steps down as CEO,[27] with a reported leaving payment of $5.125 million.[28]
  • 27 September: Dr Paul Reynolds starts as CEO of Telecom.[citation needed]
  • In November 2007, the Boost Mobile brand was discontinued in New Zealand by Telecom.[citation needed]
  • 21 November: Mark Ratcliffe, Chief Operating Officer for Technology, is appointed CEO of Telecom's soon-to-be spun off network division.[citation needed]
2008
A van with the Chorus livery.
  • 16 January: Telecom announces the formation of Chorus, its new network infrastructure division.[29][30]
  • 31 March: Telecom officially separates into three divisions (Chorus, Telecom Wholesale, Telecom Retail)[citation needed]
  • 1 April: Russ Houlden, a colleague of Reynolds at BT, is appointed Chief Financial Officer. He replaces Marko Bogoievski, who joined Infratil.[citation needed]
2009
  • 12 January: Telecom announces the closure of its online retail store Ferrit.[20]
  • August: An industrial dispute emerged between Chorus and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union after servicing contracts in the Auckland and Northland regions are awarded to Australian company Visionstream, which planned to change technicians' employment contracts to a dependent contractor model.[31][32]

In October a new logo was announced.[citation needed]

2010s

Spark's headquarters in Wellington
2010
  • November: Telecom moves into its newly built world HQ on Victoria St in the Auckland CBD. Costing the developer $280 million, it will consist of 2700 staff and be the largest corporate move in New Zealand history.[citation needed]
2011
  • 24 May: Crown Fibre Holdings announced that Telecom had been successful in partnering with the Government to build a fibre network.[citation needed]
  • 9 June: The National Business Review reveals that in OIA documents that the Department of Internal Affairs considered at least one text message sent by Telecom to be in breach of the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007.[33]
  • 1 December: Telecom divests itself of Chorus, the Network Infrastructure division, in a one for five share deal, with Chorus becoming a separately listed company.[citation needed]
2013
  • 9 December: Telecom announces sale of AAPT for A$450 million[34]
2014
2015
2019

2020s

2023

Mobile network

Telecom started the first cellular network services using AMPS in 1987. This transitioned to D-AMPS TDMA digital services in the early 1990s. The service in the 800 MHz band gave great geographic coverage and set the bar for service performance for many years.[citation needed]

In 1996 Telecom introduced an innovative and first-to-market wireless data cellular network known as CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) that provided IP connections with mobility. Introduced to the market by the product manager, David Beale, they succeeded in the very first iOT-device connections in the region connecting, amongst other things, Coke's vending machines, NZ Post's couriers and parcel tracking, and telemetry data from the Americas Cup yacht races in Auckland to feed a realtime TV graphics service.[citation needed]

Telecom Mobile, the mobile division of Telecom, reached 500,000 mobile customers connected to its network in 1998, which doubled to one million customers by 2000.[citation needed]

In 2005, a

phreaker exposed a vulnerability with the mobile network, allowing public access to almost anyone's voicemail; in response to concerns over privacy and security, this network issue was resolved.[46]

On 31 March 2007, the 025

W-CDMA/UMTS-CDMA 850 MHz network,[48] based on the WCDMA HSPA technology, to eventually replace its current CDMA EV-DO network. On 29 May 2009, Telecom launched its new network, branded as "XT", to the public.[49]

In December 2009

XT Mobile Network experienced high-profile failures for many customers in locations from Taupo south, due to a radio network controller failure in Christchurch. As a result of the loss of service Telecom offered a $5 million compensation package for its customers.[53]

In April 2010, Telecom released its first

XT Mobile Network, the LG GW620.[citation needed
]

On 31 July 2012, the Telecom

CDMA mobile network was closed down.[54]

In September 2013, Telecom officially launched new Ultra Mobile branding and plans. These plans include a free 4G upgrade (4G was made available later in November 2013) with a 1GB of data per day from Telecom WiFi hotspots.[55] In October 2013, Telecom sought clearance to acquire management rights for parts of the 700 MHz spectrum with the intention of aiding in the development of its 4G mobile network.[56]

Industry regulation and company restructuring

In 2000, the New Zealand Government conducted a comprehensive review of the regulatory regime in the telecommunications industry. Subsequently, in 2001 the Telecommunications Act was passed, which among other things established the role of a Telecommunications Commissioner.[citation needed]

In a decision by the Government on 3 May 2006, Telecom was forced to unbundle the

Business Roundtable, Federated Farmers, and Bruce Sheppard (representing Telecom shareholders). Legislation was introduced to enable the regulatory changes. Three other political parties (New Zealand First,[61] the Green Party[62] and United Future)[63] supported the decision, which would give the government at least 66 votes if there were no votes against the party line. The main opposition National Party initially opposed the unbundling decision, but later voted in favour of it after a select committee hearing. This left the ACT Party alone in opposing the decision.[citation needed
]

The company was then affected by a series of other government decisions. Firstly, in early-June 2006 the

Vodafone New Zealand to establish a mobile phone product which could also provide free local calling. Then, the Commerce Commission granted two of Telecom's competitors, CallPlus and ihug, access to an unrestricted, Unbundled Bitstream Service, which would allow them to provide competitive broadband services.[citation needed
]

On 27 June 2006, the company announced that it would voluntarily separate its business into two separate operating business units – Wholesale and Retail.[64] The Government introduced the Telecommunications Amendment Bill in November 2006 to force Telecom to open its network to competitors. The bill officially split Telecom into three business units from 31 March 2008, with network access separated from the wholesale and retail units.[65]

In January 2012 Telecom launched a new Mobile Network aimed at the youth market named Skinny Mobile.[66]

On 28 March 2013, Telecom announced that it would reduce staff levels by constraint on recruitment activity and redundancies. This followed from speculation by MP Clare Curran that up to 1500 jobs would be cut from the company.[67]

Spark Broadband

Spark is New Zealand's largest internet service provider. It was formerly named Xtra. The next largest ISP in the New Zealand market is One NZ, a position it acquired when it purchased TelstraClear in 2012.[68][69]

Spark offers

fibre to the premises
(FTTP) fixed-line broadband, and Wireless Broadband.

Spark Mobile

See also:
XT Mobile Network

Spark NZ is New Zealand's largest

mobile operator by market-share. As of 2021, Spark NZ had 41% of the New Zealand market, beating competitor One NZ (then called Vodafone) who was at 38%.[70] Telecom's mobile network was branded as "XT", and operates at 850 MHz nationwide (with some 2100 MHz overlay in urban areas), and delivers 3G data connectivity wherever there is coverage.[citation needed
]

Telecom originally operated a TDMA (

XT Mobile Network, based on WCDMA HSPA technology, to replace its current CDMA EV-DO network. The network was launched on 29 May 2009. The CDMA network ran in parallel with XT until it was shut down on 31 July 2012.[citation needed
]

The TDMA network used the 025 mobile prefix, using a mixture of six- and seven-digit subscriber numbers. With the switch to CDMA, Telecom migrated to the 027 prefix and standardised the subscriber numbers to seven digits, adding a 4 to the beginning of old six-digit numbers.[citation needed]

Customer numbers and market share

Spark competes with One NZ, 2degrees and mobile virtual network operators for market share. In November 2015, Spark had 2,200,000 mobile customers at 40% market share.[71]

In 2021, it was estimated that Spark NZ held a 41% market share in New Zealand.[72]

The following shows customer numbers and market share information for Telecom Mobile, covering both the now-shut-down TDMA and CDMA networks and Spark's current 3G, 4G, and 5G networks.[citation needed]

Quarter No of customers Market share %
December 1999 858,000 68.37%
December 2000 1,150,000 60.43%
December 2001 1,379,000 56.94%
December 2002 1,229,000 50.18%
December 2003 1,298,000 49.95%
November 2005 1,600,000 46%
March 2007 1,900,000 49%
February 2010 2,152,000 44.4%
August 2012 1,600,000 32.2%
November 2015 2,200,000 40%

Spark Sport

Spark Sport
DeveloperSpark New Zealand
TypeStreaming media
Launch date14 March 2019
Discontinued30 June 2023
Websitewww.sparksport.co.nz

Spark Sport was a New Zealand sports streaming service, owned and operated by Spark. The service was launched on 14 March 2019 after Spark obtained the New Zealand broadcast rights to various World Rugby events including the 2019 Rugby World Cup a year earlier.[73][74] During that time, Spark Sport obtained the rights to several other sports to build its catalog, until the streaming service was ready for launch, coverage was sublicienced to TVNZ to screen. Its first major live sport broadcast was the streaming of the 2019 Australian F1 Grand Prix.[75]

There were concerns that Spark's broadcast of the Rugby World Cup would struggle under New Zealand's internet capabilities especially in rural communities and anticipated audience numbers streaming matches resulting in similar issues to Optus Sport's broadcasting FIFA World Cup 2018 in Australia. On the second day of the Rugby World Cup, Spark Sport suffered technical issues during its live stream of the match between New Zealand and South Africa leaving viewers unable to watch the game, as a result broadcast of the second half was simulcast of traditional television on TVNZ Duke as part of a contingency plan with free-to-air broadcaster TVNZ for issues during the Rugby World Cup. Viewers would continue to report issues throughout the tournament, despite the issues Spark responded noting that there were no issues from their end in the broadcast feed and that the issues experienced were due to the individual viewer's set up configuration of their streaming devices.[76]

Following its broadcast of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Spark Sport announced it had secured a six-year broadcast deal with New Zealand Cricket for all domestic and international cricket played within New Zealand.[77] The rights had been previously held by Sky Sport for over 25 years. Spark Sport's coverage of cricket is presented by Scotty Stevenson, with regular analysts and commentators including Mark Richardson, Craig McMillan, Craig Cumming, Brendon McCullum, Grant Elliott, Stephen Fleming, Rebecca Rolls and Frances Mackay. American outside broadcast provider Gravity Media provided the equipment to cover Spark's coverage, brought over from Australia, while UK's Whisper TV provided the overall production element. During the 2022/23 season NEP Group was given the outside broadcast contract, which, ironically, bought outside broadcast company On Site Broadcasting (OSB) from Sky in 2020.[citation needed]

Spark Sport was the host broadcaster for the 2021 Rugby World Cup held in New Zealand.[78]

Spark had previously broadcast sport through its subscription video on-demand service

French Top 14 rugby.[citation needed
]

In December 2022, Spark Sport announced that it would be shutting down in the second half of 2023 due to a combination of financial and technical problems.

Formula 1 had moved to Sky TV and Sky Sport.[81]

Previously held sports rights

Rugby union
Football
Cricket
Motorsport
Rugby league
Hockey
Tennis
  • WTA Tour events excluding events played in New Zealand.
Other Sports

Criticism

When Telecom held a general monopoly in New Zealand telecommunications, it was criticised for using its incumbent status to charge high prices. Prices have subsequently dropped as competition in the market has increased.[citation needed]

Competitors alleged that Telecom engaged in unfair practices to prevent them from gaining ground, for example by reselling broadband capacity to Xtra at lower prices than to other ISPs.[

TranzRail being the first.[91]

The New Zealand Treasury once estimated the economic loss from Telecom's (now former) monopoly to be in the region of $50–$250 million a year.[citation needed] Another study commissioned in 1998 by competitor Clear (later TelstraClear) estimated that the loss was $400 million a year. At a retail level Telecom now faces competition in all areas — cellular, internet, toll-calls and, subject to ongoing developments, in local calling. At a network level these retail services often resell Telecom wholesale products.[citation needed]

Telecom claimed[92] one reason for poor broadband uptake in New Zealand was because of the fact New Zealand residential subscribers enjoy free local calling. Telecom stated "customers have the option of moving to faster broadband services, but free local calling creates a disincentive by allowing them to use dial-up for as long they want" (i.e. they do not have to pay a per-minute call charge while using dial-up, unlike many other countries where local calls are charged for). However, some experts and competitors disagreed – including the secretary of the OECD.[93]

Telecom failed to reach their self-imposed goal of around 83,333 wholesale broadband customers by the end of 2005. During her opening address to parliament, Prime Minister Helen Clark criticised the state of the internet in New Zealand.[94] This was followed by extensive criticism in the media such as in two high-profile television programmes, in two episodes of Campbell Live (whose past major sponsors include Telecom), during which CEO Theresa Gattung was challenged by host John Campbell, and an episode of the New Zealand edition of Sunday. Critical articles had been published by various magazines and newspapers, including the largest newspaper, The New Zealand Herald. Of significance, many of these were lengthy and high-profile articles compared to many previous articles critical of Telecom — among the most noticeable of these was published by the National Business Review, in which it was stated that "Far from being 'Xtraordinary', as its multimillion dollar advertising would have you believe, Telecom is strangling the nation's advancement." While in Wellington for an ICANN meeting, Vint Cerf was reported to have made a personal visit to David Cunliffe, the telecommunications minister where it is believed he recommended that Telecom be unbundled.[95][96] The government investigated whether it needed to force Telecom to unbundle the network, thereby allowing other companies access and improving broadband service for consumers.[citation needed]

From 2007, Yahoo! provided Telecom's email service, which came under heavy criticism in early 2013 following a spam and phishing attack described as the biggest to have ever hit the country.[97] Telecom and Yahoo! automatically reset tens of thousands of users' passwords.[98] In April, Telecom announced that despite the issue, it would keep Yahoo! on as an email provider.[99] Problems with Telecom's YahooXtra email continued into December 2013 and further into 2014 with the latest problems reported on 10 January.[100] They later moved their mail service to SMX, a New Zealand-based provider, in May 2017.[101]

References

  1. ^ "Leadership Squad".
  2. ^ a b c d "Spark New Zealand Annual Report 2015" (PDF).
  3. ^ a b "Spark Annual Report 2016" (PDF). Spark Investor Centre. Spark NZ. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  4. ^ NZ, Spark (August 2022). "Spark NZ Annual Report 2022" (PDF). Spark NZ. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  5. ^ Griffin, Peter; Twose, Helen (19 July 2007). "NZ's wealthy telcos stingy on investment". The New Zealand Herald.
  6. ^ Fletcher, Hamish (1 December 2011). "Plenty of pomp as Chorus and Telecom part". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  7. ^ a b Edward, Swift (21 February 2014). "Telecom rebranding to become Spark". Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Spark". spark.co.nz. Spark New Zealand.
  9. ^ "Telecommunications reform in NZ" (PDF).
  10. ^ "History and quick facts". Telecom NZ.
  11. ^ "Telecom NZ's 'Kiwi Share' under review". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 January 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Directors". Companies Office. December 1997. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Directors". Companies Office. 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  14. ^ "Vodafone to purchase New Zealand GSM system". RCR Wireless. 30 November 1999. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Enrons Demise gives rise to Issues over Talacom Accounts". Sharechat. 15 March 2002. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Telecom Annual Accounts 2001". Telecom Annual Accounts 2001. Companies Office. 25 September 2001. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Southern Cross Cable Annual Accounts 2001". NZ Companies Office. 2001. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  18. ^ "Spark Facebook page - A refreshing change". Facebook. January 2003. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  19. New Zealand Herald
    . 6 January 2004.
  20. ^ a b McDonald, Sarah (12 January 2009). "Telecom gives Ferrit the chop". National Business Review. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  21. ^ Nowak, Peter (9 May 2006). "Gattung admits Telcos not being straight". The New Zealand Herald.
  22. ^ Keown, Jenny (1 July 2006). "Telecom names head for new wholesale division". The New Zealand Herald.
  23. ^ Trevett, Claire; Keown, Jenny (26 January 2007). "Telecom finally organises broadband for multimillionaire". The New Zealand Herald.
  24. ^ Keown, Jenny (25 January 2007). "Rivals move after millionaire can't get Telecom broadband". The New Zealand Herald.
  25. ^ "Telecom New Zealand Appoints Paul Reynolds as Chief Executive Office". Telecom NZ. 28 June 2007.
  26. ^ "Telecom names new boss". The New Zealand Herald. 28 June 2007.
  27. ^ "Theresa Gattung to Conclude Role as Telecom CEO". Telecom NZ. 2 February 2007.
  28. ^ Twose, Helen (6 September 2007). "Gattung's $5m golden goodbye". The New Zealand Herald.
  29. ^ Twose, Helen (17 January 2008). "Telecom's Chorus takes centre stage". The New Zealand Herald.
  30. ^ Twose, Helen (16 January 2008). "Telecom's new network unit named Chorus". The New Zealand Herald.
  31. ^ "EPMU prepares Visionstream campaign". Stuff.co.nz. 8 July 2009.
  32. ^ "CTU urges Govt to stop broadband talks". The New Zealand Herald. 25 August 2009.
  33. ^ Keall, Chris (9 June 2011). "Telecom broke anti-spam law". National Business Review. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  34. New Zealand Exchange
    . 9 December 2013.
  35. ^ "Bright Spark - Telecom changes name". The New Zealand Herald. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  36. ^ "Lifting the Lightbox lid: a look inside Telecom's new digital venture". stoppress.co.nz. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  37. ^ "Spark's Lightbox launches, with a little surprise from the boss". The National Business Review. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  38. The Dominion Post
    . 6 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  39. ISSN 1170-0777
    .
  40. ISSN 1170-0777
    .
  41. ^ "Stream your Favourite Sports on Spark Sport". Spark Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  42. ^ Ensor, Jamie (19 December 2019). "Lightbox to merge with Neon after Sky purchase". Newshub. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  43. Stuff.co.nz
    . Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  44. ^ "Sky expected to merge Lightbox with Neon streaming service". Radio New Zealand. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  45. ^ "Spark New Zealand to invest up to $189 million in data centres over three years". Reuters. 4 April 2023. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023.
  46. ^ "NZ hacker targets voicemail". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 May 2005. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  47. ^ "Goodbye to 025 network". The New Zealand Herald. 31 March 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
  48. ^ a b "Telecom Future-Proofs Mobile Services With New Network Investment". Telecom NZ. 8 June 2007. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013.
  49. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived
    from the original on 9 May 2009.
  50. ^ Nash, Kieran (14 December 2009). "Telecom's XT network still down south of Taupo". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  51. ^ "Telecom XT outages unacceptable - association". The New Zealand Herald. 27 January 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  52. ^ "XT outage blamed on 'unusual problems'". The New Zealand Herald. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  53. ^ Vass, Beck (3 February 2010). "XT users share $5m compo package". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  54. Netguide
    . 1 July 2011.
  55. ^ "Telecom launches vibrant Ultra mobile branding". 8 October 2013.
  56. ^ "Telecom seeks clearance to acquire radio spectrum". Scoop Media. 4 October 2013.
  57. ^ "Govt announces broadband changes". TVNZ. 3 May 2006.
  58. ^ Pannett, Rachel; Louisson, Simon (4 May 2006). "$1.1 billion wiped off Telecom's value as shares plunge". The New Zealand Herald.
  59. ^ "Govt to open up Telecom network for faster broadband". The New Zealand Herald. 3 May 2006.
  60. ^ Withers, Tracy (3 May 2006). "NZ Says Telecom Must Give Rivals Greater Access to Network". Bloomberg.
  61. ^ NZ First (4 May 2006). "NZ First Welcomes Telecom Competition".
  62. ^ NZ Greens. "Government moves on Telecom welcomed".
  63. ^ United Future NZ. "Copeland: Local loop unbundling decision a win for all New Zealanders".
  64. ^ "Telecom to separate wholesale and retail operations". Telecom NZ. 27 June 2006. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013.
  65. ^ Keown, Jenny (28 November 2008). "Telecom's tough year continues – it's split into three". The New Zealand Herald.
  66. ^ "Skinny launch takes rivals by surprise; NZ price war anticipated". TeleGeography. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  67. ^ "More job cuts possible at Telecom". TVNZ. 28 March 2013.
  68. ^ "Vodafone acquires TelstraClear". Vodafone.
  69. ^ "Commerce Commission clears Vodafone's purchase of TelstraClear". 16 April 2018.
  70. ^ "Statista - Estimated mobile phone provider market share in New Zealand in 2021, by subscribers".
  71. ^ "New Zealand: mobile providers estimated market share by subscribers 2021". Statista. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  72. ^ "New Zealand: Mobile providers estimated market share by subscribers 2021".
  73. ^ "Spark Sport launching in early March with a free trial month for New Zealanders". sparknz.co.nz. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  74. ^ "TVNZ and Spark win Rugby World Cup rights". stuff.co.nz. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  75. ^ "Spark overtakes Sky to pick up rights for Formula 1". Stuff. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  76. ^ "Spark's Rugby World Cup coverage hit by thousands of complaints". SportsPro. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  77. ^ "Spark Sport wins New Zealand Cricket broadcasting rights for six years". Stuff. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  78. ^ "World Rugby Awards New Zealand Broadcast Rights for the Men's and Women's Rugby World Cups to Spark". World Rugby. 15 April 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  79. ^ Sim, Josh (16 December 2022). "Spark to close sports streaming service in 2023". SportsPro. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  80. ^ Yusuf, Imran (16 December 2022). "Spark to exit sports streaming as TVNZ takes over rights, Sky NZ acquires F1". SportBusiness. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  81. ^ "Sky TV wins Formula 1 motor racing rights in wake of Spark's exit". RNZ. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  82. ^ "Watch the 2021 Women's World Cup on Spark Sport". Spark Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  83. ^ a b c d e f g "NZ's Home of UEFA Football on Spark Sport". Spark Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  84. ^ a b c d e f "Stream Cricket Live & On-Demand – Spark Sport NZ". Spark Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  85. ^ "Stream Rugby League World Cup 2021 🏉 Live and On-Demand – Spark Sport NZ". Spark Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  86. ^ "Stream Rugby League World Cup 2021 🏉 Live and On-Demand – Spark Sport NZ". Spark Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  87. ^ "Stream Rugby League World Cup 2021 🏉 Live and On-Demand – Spark Sport NZ". Spark Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  88. ^ "Stream Rugby League World Cup 2021 🏉 Live and On-Demand – Spark Sport NZ". Spark Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  89. ^ Saarinen, Juha (18 July 2005). "ISPs formally complain to Commerce Commission".
  90. ^ "The Consumer Complete Ass Awards 2006", 31 January 2007, Press Release: Consumer's Institute
  91. ^ "The Roger Award".
  92. ^ Nowak, Peter (25 October 2005). "Free calls mean less broadband — Telecom". The New Zealand Herald.
  93. ^ Nowak, Peter (31 October 2005). "OECD takes shot at Telecom". The New Zealand Herald.
  94. ^ Nowak, Peter (8 February 2006). "PM joins critics of internet monopoly". The New Zealand Herald.
  95. ^ Nowak, Peter (24 March 2006). "Open up access, says 'internet evangelist'". The New Zealand Herald.
  96. ^ Bell, Stephen (28 March 2006). "Cerf wary of biased broadband business models". Computerworld.
  97. ^ "Telecom rush to fix hack". 3 News NZ. 11 February 2013.
  98. ^ "Telecom defends email reset operation". 3 News NZ. 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  99. ^ "Telecom sticks with Yahoo email". 3 News NZ. 5 April 2013.
  100. ^ "Telecom probes fresh YahooXtra email virus". 10 January 2014.
  101. ^ "Spark replaces Yahoo with SMX Managed Messaging email solution". 2 May 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spark New Zealand.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spark_New_Zealand&oldid=1214666756#Spark_Sport"