__NOTOC__ ihug was New Zealand's third largest ISP (behind Xtra and TelstraClear), before it was bought, then absorbed by Vodafone New Zealand (the country's largest mobile phone operator, later renamed One NZ). 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 and telecommunications company that sells NBN plans, 4G and 5G Home Wireless Internet and services on its ULTRA Broadband Cable, FTTB and VDSL2 networks. iiNet also sells mobile pho ...

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

Television New Zealand Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, TVNZ+, streaming service, and 1N ...

subsidiary THL and competitor Orcon. Its headquarters were in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. 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 until Vodafone later stopped providing email services.

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 u ...

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 wire, copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem ...

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

One NZ
formerly Vodafone NZ Internet service providers of New Zealand Vodafone New Zealand companies established in 1994 Telecommunications companies established in 1994

History

See also

References

External links