Unless...
ComputerWorld April 2003
Tapping fiber optic cable without being detected, ....and making
sense of the information you collect, certainly isn't trivial, but
has been done for the past seven or eight years
Gartner Group
It makes sense then…

You do know that the trunks have been fibre for a decade or more,…

Don't think so. We all know Deals are done behind closed doors, why would you do it over a video link with all five eyes watching your…

PM has questions about Chorus' future

Think about uploading. Better still, think about real-time hi-def video-conferencing that's as good as being across the table from someone you're dealing with.

Here in Dunedin they own the old gas mains, they got…

Absolutely. It's been a shambles. In the course of my day job, I've looked at the Chorus records of about 300 Auckland addresses in the last month to see which services (ADSL, VDSL, UFB) are available, and probably three quarters don't have…

Not for years. Road taxes were hypothecated by Labour somewhere around 2002.

That's because their minister knows first-hand how important it is to be watered ;)

I live in Ellerslie, which is firmly in the middle of the old Auckland City Council boundaries, moderately affluent, and generally ought to be well-served by fibre.…

That makes it worse in my mind but not a tax.

Yeah no worries. It’s a personal issue I have with those kinds of numbers from years of having friends comment that “hey you’ll be getting lots of funding from the hundreds of…

We wanted one number that reflected what the true cost is. We looked at $95m a year, we looked at a per user number and so on. In the end we rounded it all up and looked at Covec's most conservative estimate across the period in question.

As…

Thanks Phil. The media release didn't help at all but a five minute skim of the 35 page report told me what I wanted.

So…

DPF has more technical nous than any two of his blog's commenters combined. He's also not utterly, implacably opposed to regulation when there's an obvious market failure.

It's also worth noting that Chorus (and its previous incarnation of Telecom Wholesale) has self-interest built into its entire culture. Regulation is often only part…

It's a good counter to the blubbery one's assertion that Jordan has turned INZ into a Labour Party policy outfit, which is then the only reason that INZ would be getting in behind such a…

Yeah, but aren't we better than that? Just ignore him – he hates being ignored…

I don't often give Farrar much credit, but I will say that he's been consistently in favour of a realistic Internet/telecommunications marketplace since the 90's. His presence on this consortium lends credibility as a non-tribal matter, rather than…

But it does main that their advice should always be taken with a pitch…

And were ignored. Well I'll be. National ignored Treasury. Why do they even bother keeping the department around? Given how often Treasury's really significant advice has been ignored by the current regime, surely it's not just for the neololberal smokescreen?

Disclosure: I hold a small amount of CNU which I bought earlier this year because I suspected there had been unnecessary panic and they would continue to pay reasonable dividends.

“Given the many benefits of this initiative, it is important that the economics of the project remain in place for the Government’s partners, that investment is supported throughout the duration of the build and the transition to fibre is supported so consumers get savings and wider benefits.”

The entire Chorus…

Chorus Statement – Coalition for fair internet pricing

The estimates used today are based on a draft price issued at the start of a long regulatory process. That price has never been implemented and describing this as a “new tax” is clearly misleading and incorrect.

The…

From a report prepared by economists Covec. You can read the Coalition's media release here and it includes a link to Covec's 35 page report

David Farrar has lots of interests, some of which are not political :-) He has been a very effective member and supporter of InternetNZ for many many years and his position on topics relating to the internet have…

Yes, I'm curious too. I probably did it wrong, but I got $600m/12 months/$12 extra per month=~4.17m, which I would take to mean that many connections paying that much more per month. And there aren't 4.17m copper…

You mean not do what Slater did and turn the entire piece into attacks on Hooten (for whom I have little time, but that's by the by), and then on Jordan Carter's integrity? Yeah, nah.

Surely cancelled out by the involvement of Jordan Carter, no? I mean, a former* Labour candidate is at least equal to a mere political pollster.

As for the rest, when prices have been regulated lower in other aspects of our telecommunications market the…

Is this one of those things where any benefit will be snarfed by other companies in the absurdly complex telco foodchain, and the "winning" and "losing" firms have both bought different elements in the National party?

Also on the same day as the announcement, Prime Minister John Key said he would not rule out fresh legislation to overcome a [Commerce Commission] decision he said was "problematic".

From Hamish Rutherford's article on the subject. In usual circumstances, this statement would be extraordinary. That the PM is so…

If that assumption is relaxed and it is instead assumed that this Government is partial to…

No one questions what you do or say? Or what your motivations may or may not be? Or who pays or doesn't pay…

Whaleoil's ability to do his masters' bidding is amazing. Clearly Judith Collins has spoken. Here's his bizarre post on the "mad dogs at the Commerce Commission".

DomPost: Axe copper tax action launched

The campaign is expected to come under attack from the Government, and has already been slated by Right-wing blogger Whaleoil.

Sources said last night that some members of the consortium had already been placed under political pressure not to publicly criticise the Government's…