It’s something that has bugged me all weekend. What on earth is going on with Foodstuff North Island’s new Auckland supermarkets? An article in the NZ Herald this weekend hails the arrival of a new supermarket chain called “Fresh Collective by New World”, which appears to be small, boutique supermarkets, as described in the article… Continue reading Puzzled by polystyrene supermarket
You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, according to Joni Mitchell’s great song and also according to everybody fighting the good fight to retain Net Neutrality. But like everything that matters about ensuring the Internet remains free and not captured by monopolists and dictators, you have to look to the United States. Right… Continue reading Net Neutrality, Netflix and New Zealand
Competition, net neutrality and the advent of a fourth mobile network are in danger if the Vodafone/SkyTV merger is given the green light by the Commerce Commission. That’s according to many of the submissions opposing the merger which have been lodged with ComCom this month. There are 11 submissions from rival telcos and broadcasters, as… Continue reading At risk: competition, net neutrality and the prospect of a fourth mobile network
News that Oracle is buying NetSuite, a cloud ERP vendor, took me back to my final days as a working journalist, when I went on the Best Junket Ever – a trip to SuiteWorld, the annual NetSuite event for customers, add-on partners, analysts and media. It was my first visit to Silicon Valley and I had a blast. It… Continue reading Farewell NetSuite, thanks for the memories
Should the Vodafone and SkyTV merger be given the green light by the Commerce Commission it will profoundly alter the New Zealand telco and broadcasting landscape. A merger of this size has the potential to seriously alter what is, in my view, the fragile competition that exists in both markets (Vodafone and SkyTV would argue… Continue reading Reducing ‘public interest harms’
New Zealanders have a great affection for and affinity with Canadians. Like us, their country is often overshadowed by a bigger, bolder, noisier neighbour, and yet discussions about Canadian politics, economics, and culture in this country are rare. When it comes to telecommunications and broadcasting policy it might be time to make an exception, especially in… Continue reading Lessons from Canada on telco and broadcasting policy
The government’s latest paper reviewing the Telco Act devotes 80 pages to regulating the fixed line network as it transitions from copper to fibre and about 15 pages to the rest of the telco sector. Tucked right at the back, on pages 94 and 95, are questions raised about the telco complaints scheme, called the… Continue reading How effective is telco complaints scheme?
