Tag: network

NEW NAME FOR MCT

Communications

15 November 2004 by Richard Chirgwin

But Macquarie Telco’s Big News is in Services

Last Thursday (November 11) Macquarie Corporate Telecommunications unveiled a new identity – as Macquarie Telecom – and also lifted the lid on plans for a new range of services based on its own access network.

Faced with every telco’s problem – how to protect margin in a world where access to the customer is governed by Telstra’s access network – MT is to start creating services based on an Ethernet access network.

MT’s CEO David Tudehope said the company has spent 12 months planning its own metropolitan access network.

In corporate services, he said, “The critical success factor is the quality of the network”, and by creating an access network, “We create a real opportunity for business and corporate clients.”

The MT access network will embrace all of its existing offerings, but where possible, the access network will embrace a planned fibre rollout to customer premises. This, according to (title) Glen Noble, will depend on the economics.

Those economics, however, are helped by MT’s existing customer base. Noble told CommsWorld that instead of having to build a network and then recruit customers, MT can migrate an existing customer base to the access network. All-MT network rollout will chiefly focus on fibre loops in CBD areas, Noble said.

An Ethernet-based fibre rollout means MT will be able to support converged customer connections, with voice, data and video on a single QoS-enabled high speed customer tail. Noble also said the company will consider expanding the definition of “on-network” traffic; for example, allowing corporates using the MT access network for VoIP traffic to make on-network calls between each other.

SPT COMPLETES COMINDICO BUY, SELLS HALF

Business

02 December 200 by Richard Chirgwin

Kooee Also Sold to B, Now 50% Owned by SPT

Let’s put this all together. SP Telemedia has completed the acquisition of Comindico, which sank when Cisco blocked funding which among other things would have bought more routers; it’s sold half of its resulting Comindico interest to B Digital, along with its Kooee business; and it’s bought half of B Digital, including a put and call option covering 19.6% of B Digital with Nordan.

In the washup, SP Telemedia gets the Comindico network, with PoPs in Telstra’s 66 call collection areas, a bunch of B Digital shares, and half of its purchase price for Comindico in cash.

The two companies have also signed a heads of agreement for a strategic alliance, which presumably means B Digital will run the consumer-facing business and hand traffic to SP Telemedia. It also means B Digital can expand beyond its mobile telephony base into full-service offerings.

SP Telemedia, in the meantime, will be able to keep services running for the ISP customers which were a mainstay of the Comindico operation.

Nordan Limited is an unlisted investment vehicle registered in New Zealand. It seems to have entered the Australian telecommunications industry some years ago as an owner of DigiPlus, which was sold to B Digital. A related company, Kildare Assets (also from New Zealand, and registered to the same director with the NZ Companies Office) was also an owner of DigiPlus.