Telecom Opens Exchange To Ihug And Orcon

Telecom Opens Exchange To Ihug And Orcon

Telco industry takes the first step to local loop unbundling

Telecom opens its exchange doors for the first time with an early trial of local loop unbundling and co-location with service providers, ihug and Orcon.

From today, engineers from ihug and Orcon can enter Telecom's Ponsonby and Glenfield exchanges to install their own telecommunications and internet equipment for testing, so that later in the year they can deliver communications services direct to consumers over Telecom's copper lines.

"This is a landmark moment in New Zealand telecommunications," said Mark Ratcliffe, Telecom Chief Operating Officer for Technology & Enterprise. "We are working as fast as we can to give our service provider customers – like ihug and Orcon – the support and capability they need to get their products to market as quickly as possible."

Telecom has initiated this local loop unbundling and co-location trial well ahead of its regulatory obligations, with the final Commerce Commission Determinations not expected until November this year.

Orcon CEO Scott Bartlett said; "We are thrilled to participate in the Ponsonby & Glenfield trials – the first of their kind in New Zealand. Orcon is chomping at the bit to launch new, world class voice, broadband and entertainment services that will blow the minds of New Zealanders. We are up for these trials, the three others that follow in September, and the unbundling of local loops across New Zealand bring it on!"

ihug Chief Executive Mark Rushworth says that this is only the first step on the road to faster broadband for Kiwis. "It's great to finally get the keys – or swipe card as it is these days – to these two exchanges so we can put our own equipment in. But it's important to remember that we still have a lot of work to do to offer faster broadband services for the majority of New Zealanders."

Rushworth says ihug will be testing over the next few months to make sure everything works, before launching to customers at the end of the year, and that they are keen to see Telecom opening the doors to many more exchanges in the coming months.

The Telecom pilot is required to test operational processes and support systems like power supply and cooling for the equipment as well as after-hours access to the exchange.

In addition, technical staff from both ihug and Orcon have been through extensive training these past few months to make sure they are well acquainted with operational and health and safety procedures and policies within the exchange.

Telecom is currently preparing to open other exchanges for trials with Mt Albert, Ellerslie and Browns Bay scheduled to receive service provider equipment for testing in September.

Following these trials, Telecom will confirm whether they will be able to have five exchanges ready to receive equipment from all service providers by the end of the year.

KEY FACTS LLU and Co-location trial

Trials commenced on 9 August 2007, when ihug and Orcon engineers received access cards to the exchanges.

Eight Orcon and 12 ihug engineers, management and contractors have been through an extensive training course to ensure that they are well acquainted with operational policies within the exchange this includes:

1. health and safety regulations 2. operational procedures in and around Telecom exchanges 3. permit to work process

Throughout the trials Telecom will test the following systems to ensure they can support access seeker equipment as well as enable service provider engineers to work on site.

1. building services, power supply and air conditioning 2. business hours secure access processes such as operational procedures and health & safety 3. out of hours access support via helpdesk 4. provisioning of unbundled copper local loops 5. repair of faults in building services and unbundled copper local loops

The trial itself will not have an end date, and will transition to normal operations as part of the LLU implementation following the final Commerce Commission Determination. We will be working with ihug and Orcon and any other service provider who joins the trial, on a regular basis to ensure a smooth roll-out that will enable them to deliver services to consumers directly over the local loop.

Ponsonby is a co-mingled site which means that service provider equipment sits alongside Telecom broadband equipment in the same rows within the same equipment room.

Glenfield is a co-located site which means that service provider equipment is situated in a separate room from the Telecom core network equipment.

The Ponsonby exchange is a typical example of a Telecom exchange. It was built in 1940 and has housed several different exchange technologies, from early automatic electromechanical types to the more recent electronic models.

It used to be a manned exchange but has been unmanned since late 1980 when the lower maintenance requirements of the electronic exchanges removed the need for permanent staff to provision connections and repair equipment.

The Ponsonby exchange services the Ponsonby area with 7,371 broadband and 15,153 telephone connections.

ABOUT IHUG

ihug, the original internet pioneer, has been making it easy for New Zealanders to connect to the internet for more than 13 years.

From humble beginnings in 1994 ihug has become one of New Zealand's most loved providers with over 153,000 customers and around 200 ihug employees dedicated to making the most of their internet, home phone and calling experience.

In 2006 ihug was stoked to become one of the greatest bits of Vodafone, New Zealand's leading telecommunications challenger!

ABOUT ORCON

Orcon began life in 1994, as the brainchild of Kiwi entrepreneur Seeby Woodhouse. From humble beginnings in his parent's garage, Seeby and the team have grown the Orcon brand to be New Zealand's 4th largest ISP.

Orcon was purchased in 2007 by 100% Kiwi owned Kordia, a telecommunications & media infrastructure business – who deliver the services New Zealanders enjoy and rely on everyday – like broadcast TV, radio & rural broadband.

Orcon is the only 100% Kiwi owned telecommunications service provider to participate in the local loop unbundling trials.

ENDS

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