__NOTOC__ ihug was New Zealand's third largest

ISP An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

(behind

Xtra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * '' Extra!'', an American m ...

and

TelstraClear TelstraClear Limited was New Zealand's second-largest telecommunications company before being acquired by Vodafone New Zealand in October 2012, previous to which it was a subsidiary of Australian company Telstra. It provided residential line re ...

), before it was bought, then absorbed by

Vodafone New Zealand Vodafone New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications company. It was a subsidiary of the London-listed company Vodafone Plc until 31 July 2019, when its sale to a consortium comprising Infratil Limited and Brookfield Asset Manageme ...

(the country's largest mobile phone operator). According to 2005 estimates, it had over 100,000 internet and phone subscribers. Before 2000 ihug was New Zealand's largest ISP but as other ISPs began offering flat rate services, some customers opted to transfer to those providers. ihug originally stood for Internet Home Users Group, even though the name was seldom used. It was also known as ''The Internet Group'' or 'TIG' in Australia. ihug was sold to

iiNet iiNet Limited is an Australian internet service provider that sells NBN plans and services on its ULTRA Broadband Cable, FTTB and VDSL2 networks. It was acquired by TPG Telecom in July 2020. iiNet was acquired by TPG in September 2015 for $ ...

in 2003 before being sold to Vodafone in 2006 after interest from then

Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solo ...

subsidiary THL and competitor Orcon. Its headquarters were in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The former CEO was Mark Rushworth, who became Manager of Marketing at Vodafone NZ. The company also ran a small subscription television service in Auckland for a short period. After Vodafone retired the ihug brand in April 2008, existing customers were moved to Vodafone's own internet services, although customers had the choice of retaining their email addresses.

History

* 1994: ihug was started by brothers Nick Wood and Tim Wood with $8000 from their father, John. * 1995: ihug was the first New Zealand ISP to introduce a

flat rate A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of us ...

account. * 1997: ihug begins trading in Australia. ** ihug merges with Dunedin-based and South Island-focused ISP ES Net (Efficient Software), creating a combined subscriber base of 10,000. ** ihug establishes SatNet and Ultra satellite broadband services. * 1998: Over 4500 websites on the ihug homepages' server were deleted after the machine was hacked. * 1999: Then owners Nick, Tim and John Wood were listed on the annual National Business Review Rich List, with an estimated combined wealth of $75 million. ** Ihug launches ihugPhone, VoIP-based toll bypass and post-paid calling card voice services * 2002: ihug appoints Martin Wylie as CEO to find a buyer of the company. * 2003: ihug bought by

for NZ$82 million. * 2004: ihug purchases Wave Internet and PC Connect, gaining 10,000 Waikato and Bay of Plenty customers. * 2005: ihug offloads satellite infrastructure to concentrate on

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...

broadband. * 2006: ihug sold to Vodafone (NZ operations only). * 2008: Vodafone shuts down the ihug brand.

References

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External links

ihug

iiNet

Vodafone NZ

Vodafone Webmail
Internet service providers of New Zealand Vodafone New Zealand companies established in 1994 Telecommunications companies established in 1994

History

See also

References

External links