Next year the pace of change in NZ's telecommunications sector will step up as the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband begins in earnest.

From this month - post structural separation approval (which received 99.8% support) - Telecom and Chorus have effectively started again as new businesses.

The two companies will dominate the NZ telecommunications market over the coming decade and the separation is undoubtedly the most significant event in NZ since the advent of the Internet.

Through 2012 Scoop will focus attention on the issue in a series of video interviews with key players involved in building NZ's technological superhighway.

This series began in 2011 with an interview with Telstra's CEO Allan Freeth.

Today Scoop is publishing an exclusive extended interview with Paul Reynolds CEO at Telecom. We hope to follow this in the new year with a chat with Mark Ratcliffe CEO at Chorus.

In late November 2011 Scoop's Alastair Thompson sat down with Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds to conduct an in-depth (40 minute) interview on the future of Telecom post structural separation. The interview was directed by Steve Adams and shot by Socialise and Scoop's Selwyn Manning. It is broken into four parts:

Culture - Paul Reynolds discusses the dramatic change in culture which has been underway at Telecom over the past five years. The interview also touches on the new buildings in Auckland and Wellington and the Telecom One "unconference" camps which have been hosted for the past few years by Nat Torkington in Warkworth.

Innovation - Paul Reynolds and Alastair Thompson discuss the role of Telecom as a catalyst for business and technological innovation in the New Zealand market.

Ultra Fast Broadband - A discussion on speed and pricing issues around UFB, what we can expect to see over the coming few years, what UFB is for and whether it is likely to be fast enough.

The Future of Voice - VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) is the future of telephonic voice communications. However at present most New Zealand households still subscribe to copper phone lines which connect to what some consider to be outdated switch equipment in telephone exchanges. Is it time for VOIP to take the front seat?

ENDS

Despite repeatedly stating that a key demand was an end to administrative detention, and that no partial offer would be accepted, an Israeli offer was yesterday accepted by the Higher Committee for the Hunger Strikers on behalf of the prisoners. Although Israel has agreed to release 19 prisoners from solitary confinement - several of whom have been in isolation for more than ten years - and to lift the ban on family visits for prisoners from Gaza, the agreement states only that administrative detention will not be ‘renewed’ automatically and that after six months, the prisoner must be released, or charged. Current administrative detainees will be released, or charged, at the end of their current sentence. (video by Julie Webb-Pullman - Nakba Vox-pops with Gazans)More>>

REPORTS ON THE STRIKE END:

• Prisoner Interview - Julie Webb-Pullman: Jalal Saker’s Story
• Government Media Office - Victory of the prisoners in the Battle of the Empty Stomachs
• Palestinian Information Center - Palestinian prisoners win battle of empty stomachs
• International News Links - Palestinian prisoners, Israel make deal to end hunger strike
• Israel Security Agency - Terrorist Activity by Security Prisoners
• Israel Prison Service - End of the Hunger Strike

Julie Webb-Pullman: Gaza.Scoop.ps – Real Time News From Gaza

• Photo Essay: Al Jundy on Day 25 of the Battle of the Empty Stomachs
• Palestinians Favour A Diplomatic Solution, Says Haniyeh
• Hundreds Of Gaza Women March To Join Hunger Strikers Rally
Photo essay – 20th day of the Battle of the Empty Stomachs
• May Day In Gaza
• Protest Tent in Support of Hunger Striking Prisoners Relocates in Gaza City