New Zealand's incumbent carrier Telecom made its first official IP call today. Rivals say the company refuses to set a timetable to go all-IP, hindering their plans to compete.
The first official Telecom IP call was made by middle school students in Auckland. Ultimately, all voice calls will go over the all-IP network, as well as video and data services.
Rivals such as Vodafone sneered at the achievement and want to see the changeover to an all IP network done as soon as possible. Analysts note that Telecom's PSTN-based landline accounts hinder further competition because the wholesale revenues from older services outweigh those from naked DSL, so there's no incentive.
The first paying customers will be offered pilot services on the next generation network (NGN) later this year, but Telecom hasn't announced a formal timetable to go all-IP other than saying its old PSTN network will be replaced at some point before 2020.
For more:
- NZ National Business Review article.
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