TelstraClear Limited was New Zealand's second-largest telecommunications company before being acquired 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 ...
in October 2012,
previous to which it was a subsidiary of Australian company
Telstra
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...
.
It provided residential line rental services, internet services, IT services, security services, cable TV/cable modem and mobile telephone services to 70,000 subscribers on its network in Wellington, Christchurch and Kapiti. Overall the company had around 200,000 customers.
In 2004, TelstraClear began offering residential line HomePlan services including broadband outside those areas where it has its own network, reselling the
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. ...
wholesale product from Telecom New Zealand, and investing millions in local loop unbundling, which entailed TelstraClear installing its own equipment in Telecom exchanges (the Telecom infrastructure business later became
Chorus Limited
Chorus is a provider of telecommunications infrastructure throughout New Zealand. It is listed on the NZX stock exchange and is in the NZX 50 Index. It is the owner of the majority of telephone lines and exchange equipment in New Zealand. It is ...
).
History
TelstraClear had its beginnings in New Zealand with Kiwi Cable in the
Kapiti Coast
The Kapiti Coast District is a local government district of the Wellington Region in the lower North Island of New Zealand, 50 km north of Wellington City. The district is named after Kapiti Island, a prominent island offshore.
The pop ...
district,
Clear Communications
Clear Communications was a telecommunications company based in New Zealand. Until merging into Telstra's operations in 2001, it was the biggest rival to Telecom New Zealand.
Background
Prior to 1987, New Zealand's telecommunications sector ...
in 1990, and
Telstra New Zealand
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...
in 1996.
Telstra NZ slowly expanded its operations in the business market, bundling Telecom New Zealand services distributed as a reseller with its own network services. It installed switches in Auckland and Wellington to manage incoming and outgoing international traffic and maintained an interconnect agreement with Telecom New Zealand and is likely to have had others with companies such as Clear Communications.
In 1999
Saturn Communications
{{Unreferenced, date=November 2010
Saturn Communications is an Australian ICT (Information and communications technology) integrator based in Hobart, Tasmania. They service Southern Tasmania as well as most parts of Northern Tasmania. Saturn Commun ...
was sold by its parent company,
Austar
Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Telev ...
United Communications, to a new joint venture with Telstra that became known as
TelstraSaturn.
TelstraClear was then created by the merger of
Telstra
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...
's TelstraSaturn and Clear Communications in December 2001. Austar United Communications held an initial investment of 42% in TelstraClear before selling it back to Telstra. In March 2003, TelstraClear unveiled a new advertising campaign highlighting what the company saw as the increased competition and benefits the merger would create for New Zealand.
TelstraClear had plans to expand its cable network into Auckland, but cancelled the plan in 2004 due to community opposition and questions about the business case.
In 2004 TelstraClear made its first acquisition in the IT market with the purchase of Sytec, mainly for its IP telephony and security skills, in particular the specialist managed security subsidiary
DMZGlobal
DMZGlobal is now the specialist security division of Vodafone New Zealand, after it was purchased from Telstra as part of sale of its New Zealand subsidiary TelstraClear. DMZGlobal is one of the leading Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP) ...
. In 2007 Sytec was formally introduced into the TelstraClear's enterprise and government division and the brand retired, but the DMZGlobal brand was retained and invested in.
Acquisition by Vodafone
In July 2012,
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 ...
announced plans to acquire TelstraClear. Vodafone approached Telstra to purchase TelstraClear for a payment of $840 million, and $450 million that TelstraClear had in its accounts. The
Commerce Commission
The Commerce Commission ( mi, Te Komihana Tauhokohoko) is a New Zealand government agency with responsibility for enforcing legislation that relates to competition in the country's markets, fair trading and consumer credit contracts, and regula ...
approved the bid on 30 October, and the sale was completed on 31 October. TelstraClear's final trading day was 31 March 2013.
By May 2013, Vodafone said it had made good progress merging the two businesses, and that the TelstraClear branding would completely disappear by April or May 2013.
Services
Telephone
Services are available from the "on-net" areas, where TelstraClear has its own network technology based on copper wires or fibre. These areas include parts of Central Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Napier, Palmerston North, Wanganui, Kapiti, Wellington, and Christchurch, with actual technology varying based on reach and type.
Plain Old Telephone Services (POTS)
'InHome' residential telephone service with
vertical service code
A vertical service code (VSC) is a sequence of digits and the signals star (*) and number sign (#) dialed on a telephone keypad or rotary dial to enable or disable certain telephone service features. Some vertical service codes require dialing of ...
products were available in one of the following ways depending on location:
*
Saturn Communications
{{Unreferenced, date=November 2010
Saturn Communications is an Australian ICT (Information and communications technology) integrator based in Hobart, Tasmania. They service Southern Tasmania as well as most parts of Northern Tasmania. Saturn Commun ...
' established cable network, in Kapiti, Wellington and Christchurch.
* TelstraClear maintained equipment in Chorus unbundled exchanges in inner city suburbs.
* Chorus maintained equipment in all other Chorus exchanges covering most outer lying suburbs and towns.
Single fixed line business telephone services were offered in 'on-net' ADSL and 'off-net' POTS Chorus fixed line areas.
Trunk lines
Business telephone services are available in 'on-net' ISDN inner city suburbs with basic and primary rate lines. In other areas, services are available using Chorus owned ISDN/ADSL lines and exchanges (primary lite, basic and (in special cases) legacy primary rates).
With 'IP Connect' SIP trunking became available in inner city suburbs.
Data networking
'Private IP', was a non-VPN leased line WAN service for business and wholesale customers is essentially an 'Ethernet Anywhere' service delivered over a combination of the TelstraClear fixed line network, networks leased from Chorus HSNS, Araneo Wireless and Network Tasman Fibre. The service provided interconnection into Australia via either Telstra GWAN or TelstraClear operated TransTasman lines.
Mobile
TelstraClear provided mobile data service through Vodafone, on their 3G GSM network since early 2010.
* In July 2006, TelstraClear announced they would build their own UMTS network in Tauranga, expanding to other locations. They would roam to other networks when outside these areas. This did not eventuate, and created acrimony with Vodafone NZ.
* Until 2007, TelstraClear sold a mobile service on Vodafone's GSM & UMTS network. Billing was from Telstra, but the customers ultimately belonged to Vodafone.
* In 2007, TelstraClear signed a wholesale mobile deal to access the Telecom New Zealand CDMA network, and began offering new services to small and medium size enterprises. In 2008, they started to offer non-business service using Telecom's network. In 2009 they were negotiating to use Telecom's new XT (UMTS) network but Telecom would not allow access until 2011.
* Customers using CDMA handsets on the Telecom network will continue to operate until at least 2012. Mobile Number Portability will allow existing customers (or customers from other carriers) to move to TelstraClear (on Vodafone) with the appropriate handset, and keep their existing mobile number.
* TelstraClear sold services on the Telecom NZ network until late 2009 with mobile data service via the Telecom NZ network. It used
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 (also known as C2K or IMT Multi‑Carrier (IMT‑MC)) is a family of 3G mobile technology standards for sending voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. It is developed by 3GPP2 as a backwards-compatible ...
technology.
* In July 2009, TelstraClear announced they would begin using Vodafone's network again, and this agreement came into place in 2010.
Internet
Fixed line technologies
ADSL
TelstraClear owned two ISPs, Paradise.net and Clearnet, with Clearnet becoming the umbrella brand. Both offered nationwide dialup and DSL service, resold over Telecom's DSL lines and also over unbundled exchanges. A number of their dial-up IP numbers were blacklisted as abusers by sites such as
DSBL {{unref, date=December 2019
The Distributed Sender Blackhole List was a Domain Name System-based Blackhole List that listed IP addresses of insecure e-mail hosts. DSBL could be used by server administrators to tag or block e-mail messages that ca ...
.
VDSL2
Only available to business customers in the 'on-net' areas, this technology was used to deliver the product BizBroadband and BizNet, as well as the IP Voice products (IP FeatureLine, IP Connect, IP Gateway, IP Clarity).
DOCSIS (cable)
TelstraClear also offered
DOCSIS
Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) is an international telecommunications standard that permits the addition of high-bandwidth data transfer to an existing cable television (CATV) system. It is used by many cable televisio ...
cable modem internet access within TelstraClear's own (built) network. TelstraClear offered standard speeds of up to 15 Mbit/s, and TelstraClear have also released 100 Mbit/s plans with 10Mbit/s upload.
Since late 2009, new connections were only available on Clearnet.
IT and security
With the acquisition of Sytec and the formation of Enterprise and Government division, TelstraClear provided managed network solutions, ICT services (such as desktop and device management and co-location), enterprise comms and contact center solutions. In addition under the
DMZGlobal
DMZGlobal is now the specialist security division of Vodafone New Zealand, after it was purchased from Telstra as part of sale of its New Zealand subsidiary TelstraClear. DMZGlobal is one of the leading Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP) ...
brand TelstraClear provided Internet security, managed security, and security consulting services.
Television
TelstraClear operated the
Hybrid Fibre Cable pay television network under the brand "InHomeTV". It was developed by
Saturn Communications
{{Unreferenced, date=November 2010
Saturn Communications is an Australian ICT (Information and communications technology) integrator based in Hobart, Tasmania. They service Southern Tasmania as well as most parts of Northern Tasmania. Saturn Commun ...
in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
,
Kapiti Kapiti or Kāpiti may refer to:
*Kapiti Island, an island a short distance off the New Zealand coast north of Wellington
*Kapiti Coast District, the local government district which includes much of the Kapiti Coast
*Kapiti Coast Airport, an airport ...
and
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, prior to the sale to Telstra, and formerly known as Saturn TV. The network infrastructure includes twisted pair cabling used for residential and business local telephone service.
Programming is sourced from
SKY Network Television
Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite television, satellite, media streaming services and broadband internet services. It is also a ...
following an agreement in 2002 and also locally received and sourced channels. The agreement allowed TelstraClear to distribute and bill for services provided by
SKY Network Television
Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite television, satellite, media streaming services and broadband internet services. It is also a ...
on its own InHome digital TV network.
In September 2010, TelstraClear released their own PVR called the T-BOX. The launch followed the release by parent company Telstra (AU) of a similar product.
As of June 2011 TelstraClear ceased all analogue transmission on its cable network.
In May 2012 TelstraClear started sourcing its own Pay Per View movies and changes its branding to InHome Movies.
InHomeTV was available on TelstraClear's HFC Cable network in Wellington, Christchurch and Kapiti. The service was only available if bundled with TelstraClear's telephony service or internet products.
Interactive Services
* Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) – television listing information.
* Pay Per View (PPV) Guide – Inhome Movies listing information.
Defunct Channels
*
TechTV
TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming. ...
was available up until May 2004, when current owner
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
halted international broadcasts.
* Chilli (an adult channel) was also available until 2006 when CEO Alan Freeth discontinued the product on moral grounds.
[Source: TelstraClear staff memo]
* Wild TV
* Visitor TV (This has been closed down after the
Christchurch 22 February earthquake.)
* TBN has also ceased due to their financial limitations
Others
Phonecards
TelstraClear issued remote memory phonecards. The cards started in March 2002 after Net Tel was taken over TelstraClear. The TalkPlus card, issued by Clear Communications since 1998 had similar cards issued under the TelstraClear branding.
The cards include Talk Talk, E-Phone, Pacific Talk, TalkPlus Global and Cheap Chat.
In 2003, the Holiday Parks Association phonecard introduced as a E-Phone card. Later the card changed to a TalkPlus Global card. In 2010, TelstraClear introduced the Prepaid Max card, which is only available online. In 2014 Vodafone issued the SuperGold phonecard.
References
External links
Clearnet's homepageDMZGlobal's homepageVodafone NZ's homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telstraclear
Telecommunications companies of New Zealand
Mobile technology
Telecommunications companies established in 1996
New Zealand subscription television services
Television networks in New Zealand
New Zealand companies established in 1996