Below is a complete and unedited reply in response to my email about
Project Probe.
Thanks, Ian Laurenson
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Tom West <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: Telecom abusing Project Probe
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 10:41:04 +1300
Dear Mr Laurenson
Mr Anderton has asked me to forward this reply to you.
Yours sincerely
Tom
Tom West
Private Secretary, Economic Development
Office of Hon Jim Anderton, 7.2 The Beehive, Wellington
(04) 4719 829, (021) 799 966, Fax (04) 495 8441
Dear Ian
Thank you for your email letter of 29 November in which you express concern
about Telecom's advertising of costs associated with a service provided
through the PROBE project.
I am advised that your particular concern has arisen as a result of a
promotion being carried out by Xtra Wireless which involves a limited offer
to schools providing for a free installation and radio terminal equipment
to 20th December 2004. At the same time, there has also been a Fonterra
wireless customer campaign which closed on 16th December offering reduced
installation charges.
Where a PROBE contract is in place with Telecom New Zealand, wireless
access is required to be equivalent to ADSL pricing as at the time of
signing of the contract for the contracted period of three years.
Accordingly there should be no indication in the advertising of the service
that the monthly charges are limited to a shorter timeframe.
I welcome the news that another provider is offering what appears to be a
better deal but you should check carefully that the offers are in fact
equivalent. I am advised that the PROBE funded network has been built to a
higher service quality specification to support video conferencing services
to schools and Fonterra customers. We recognise that there may well be
smaller operators with lower hardware and operating costs in the market and
it has been the Government's position that this is to be encouraged. I am
advised that your issue about using Linux probably arises from Xtra's
inability to provide customer support on this platform.
With respect to your comments on PROBE implementation, WirelessWeb did not
bid when the tendering process was underway and so could not have been
considered under the terms of the PROBE tendering rules. But we have
always recognised that newer and possibly superior, and cheaper, services
would be coming along as the technology progresses. PROBE contracted
service providers to not have exclusive rights and purchasers of broadband
services should always choose the best service that meets their needs. The
expectation is that, because of PROBE, the range of broadband purchasing
options will be much greater than if it had not been in place.
There are two matters you mention that I have asked to be taken up directly
with Telecom NZ by officials in the Ministry of Economic Development. One
is the term of the reduced monthly charge which should extend for the full
length of the contract so that the advertised time limitation would appear
to be an error. The other is to ensure that Telecom does continue to
provide a network accessing a full range of service providers, including
all ISPs (noting, however, that Telecom may always be in a position to
bundle some service offerings to create an attractive consumer package).
Yours sincerely
Jim Anderton MP
Minister for Economic Development
Disclaimer: The information contained in this document is confidential to
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Ian Laurenson
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
e.net.nz> cc:
Subject: Telecom abusing
Project Probe
29/11/2004 12:47
pm
Hi Joy,
I was given your email address when I phoned the contact number for Jim
Anderton as given on: http://www.executive.govt.nz/minister/anderton/
If you are not the most relevant person for this email, my apologies, but
could you suggest someone else or forward it on to them.
My issue is with Telecom abusing its position with regards to Project
Probe.
This weekend I received a letter from Xtra Wireless and I quote: "Get Xtra
Wireless today and save $743.75 on your installation and equipment PLUS $50
on your Plan charge every month."
And later in the letter:
"It's all part of Project Probe which is a Government funded initiative
helping to extend broadband to all schools and rural communities across the
country. Project PROBE offers Telecom limited grants per region to help
offset the infrastructure costs associated with getting the Xtra Wireless
service."
Now lets compare the prices of Xtra Wireless which has the Project Probe
grants with a company that doesn't - WirelessWeb. The prices for Xtra
Wireless are from their letter (and confirmed by phone) and the prices for
WirelessWeb are from their website (also confirmed by phone):
http://www.wirelessweb.co.nz/pricing.htm
Item Xtra Wireless WirelessWeb
---- -------------- -----------
Setup $731.25 $395
Monthly 1000MB data cap $59.95 $39
Monthly 2000MB data cap $69.95 na
Monthly 5000MB data cap na $79
Minimum contract 36 months 3 months
The prices quoted for Xtra Wireless are only available until 15 Dec 2004,
where as the WirelessWeb prices are their standard charge. After 15 Dec
2004, Xtra Wireless setup cost, based on the letter, will be $1475 and
their
monthly charge an additional $50.
Based on the information in this page:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=2065
the transfer speeds for the above prices are the same: 256kbps.
On phoning Xtra Wireless and asking about the discrepancy in price I was
told the reason was that Xtra Wireless had greater coverage. But isn't that
what Project Probe grants were supposed to offset?
According to the person I spoke to on 0800 55 50 77 Xtra Wireless does not
work for the Linux operating system, Where as WirelessWeb, according to the
person I spoke to on 0800 214 962 does. Thus Xtra Wireless is more
limiting
in that it is forcing people to use proprietary operating systems. As an
educationalist I have a strong belief that teaching people on open systems
rather than closed "black box" proprietary systems is much more
appropriate.
Thus I don't believe that Xtra Wireless is meeting the requirements for
Project Probe of offering broadband connections to schools.
I strongly urge the Government to cancel the grants to Telecom and have a
new tendering process.
The only vested interest that I have in this is as a tax payer and as a
potential rural customer. I am in no way associated with WirelessWeb, apart
from contacting them to see if their service was available in our district.
Yours sincerely, Ian Laurenson
http://www.govt.nz - connecting you to New Zealand central & local
government services
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