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Posts Tagged ‘telecom’

What is Steven Joyce doing?

Posted by Clare Curran on May 27th, 2010

For months now I’ve had a steady stream of industry stakeholders in and out of my office talking about broadband. Voicing concerns about the government process to roll it out, the time it’s taking, the uncertainties around the tender process. And most of all, about the policy itself.

Yesterday, finally, someone said quite clearly to me that the industry took a decision early last year to NOT criticise the government’s $1.5 billion ultrafast broadband policy in public. Even though many, if not most, thought it was ill-conceived. The phrase Steven Joyce is “delivering an election campaign slogan” has been used so many times.

There’s no question that we need ultrafast broadband. And we need it sooner rather than later. But we need a policy that will work.  And for months and months there’s been a big question mark about what role Telecom could or should have in this.

I wrote my first post on this in September last year. And identified Telecom’s dilemma. And until this week, Telecom somehow seems to have thought that if it just stood its ground then it would get to deliver the fibre. And now we’re seeing the consequences.

We are just over a month away from a deadline to complete commercial agreements with successful partners to roll out broadband. But the decision appears more and more difficult.

And the worst thing, as people keep telling me, is that there’s no ability to have public discussion about it. About the issues involved. A couple of weeks ago, InternetNZ hosted a public forum to get parties in the room to discuss the issues. Telecom was a no show.

The government has made no attempt to run forums. Why isn’t Steven Joyce initiating a debate on this? I understand Treasury has concerns. Is there intellectual rigour around the issues? Is there an economic analaysis? What role is MED playing?

I understand Crown Fibre Holdings, the Crown entity established to manage the roll out is now getting its feet under the table, and has considerable talent. But are they being asked to deliver on a flawed policy?

Remember Steven, it’s the public’s money you’re spending. They have a right to know what the thinking, the discussion and the issues are that lie behind the decisions made. And they need to know that the outcome is in the public interest.

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Filed under: broadband, comms & IT, economy, infrastructure
12 Comments

Public interest

Posted by Clare Curran on May 24th, 2010

It’s not usual to post our own media releases on Red Alert. In fact it’s a bit naff coz we should be original about what we write and not reconstitute stuff.

I’m breaking my own rule because it’s important to reinforce this message in the light of Telecom’s announcement today that they will structurally separate and speculation that the govt might buy up its network arm Chorus to lay taxpayer funded broadband to the nation. My media release said:

Caution must also apply to any suggestion the Crown should own part of Telecom’s entire core network or access layer. Whatever the situation with Telecom, the decision around who gets to rollout fibre for NZ’s broadband network must be made with the public interest in mind.

It must not be a decision to bail out a troubled telco or deliver profit to shareholders, especially if those shareholders are not New Zealand based.

For me, public interest is paramount. In this case what is the public interest?

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Filed under: broadband, comms & IT, economy
6 Comments

Important and puzzling questions on broadband

Posted by Clare Curran on May 24th, 2010

The Budget didn’t appear to have any surprises in it around broadband, which was one of the National Govt’s big election promises to deliver a new network, core infrastructure to NZ.  A further $248 million announced as part of the pre-election commitment to spend $1.5 billion to deliver ultrafast broadband to 75% of NZ homes largely within six to 10 years. Adding to last year’s $240+ million, of which not much has been spent. So that’s close to $500m in the bank.

We all know broadband wont actually get delivered to homes. Only to the street. Would take  a much bigger investment to take it to the home. So there will be costs to the consumer to do that. It’s now been 18 months and there’s no fibre laid. So they’re behind schedule.

And no decision yet on who will get to lay out the fibre. There’s a big decision ahead for Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH), the Govt entity charged with making the decision. They’re under considerable pressure and ostensibly there’s a three horse race for the $1.5 b.

So…. interesting to read the weekend “exclusive” by Tom Pullar-Strecker in the DomPost, that a majority stake in Chorus, Telecom’s physical network, will “apparently” be sold to the Government and other investors. Currently valued at $1.35 billion, according to Pullar-Strecker, Chorus will form the core infrastruture deliverer of broadband to the nation.

Now excuse me for scratching my head, but I don’t see the Govt writing a cheque for $700 million+ anytime soon to underwrite the purchase of Chorus to bail out Telecom, which is looking a bit fragile right now.

And even if the Govt was to do that, how would it stand up to public scrutiny? Given the XT debacle, the fact that Telecom has a copper network that they remain committed to and have publicly said they think the $1.5b investment in fibre is misjudged.

Is there, as Pullar-Strecker alludes to, some sort of secret negotiation going on with Telecom involving Treasury which undermines the whole tendering process being conducted by Crown Fibre Holdings?

Is it a done deal that Chorus will get a major stake and that NZers will fork out for it?

If so, what does this mean to the other bidders in the process? Particularly the Regional Fibre Group of electricity lines companies led by Vector, which must have spent mega dollars developing its bid?

I have heard that one of the key regional bidders has spent $600,000 developing its bid for its share of the broadband pie. Surely the Govt wouldn’t be conducting a secret process behind closed doors to deliver a fait accompli. Would it?

And what does this mean for the $248 million allocated in the Budget? And the unspent money sitting in the bank? Are NZ taxpayer dollars being dealt with transparently?

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Filed under: broadband, comms & IT, economy, infrastructure
11 Comments

Who’s next at Telecom?

Posted by Clare Curran on May 20th, 2010

Five senior resignations in the last few months at Telecom. Latest one is CFO Russ Houlden.Why? Who’s next? What does the Board think and hope there’s a succession plan in place.

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Filed under: comms & IT
5 Comments

More turmoil at Telecom

Posted by Clare Curran on May 6th, 2010

Three things happening.

1. More information about job cuts. The Independent’s Jenny Keown (can’t link to it sorry) reports 50 senior positions to go from Telecom Retail. What happens to the projects they were managing? And the people who were working on those projects?

2. IBM is tipped to become Telecom’s major outsourcing partner. This fits with information that a major offshoring of jobs within Telecom’s shared services area is planned, though is now likely to be managed in several stages.

2. Tomorrow Telecom will release details from a report into the XT failure. I wonder how much of the report they’ll release.

Hope the Government is paying attention.

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Filed under: comms & IT, infrastructure, jobs, outsourcing
11 Comments

Keeping kiwi jobs kiwi

Posted by Clare Curran on April 29th, 2010

Good on Tom Pullar-Strecker for ferreting this out in today’s DomPost, where he reports that Indian technology giants Tech Mahindra and Wipro are bidding for a huge information technology outsourcing contract at Telecom in competition with IBM and Hewlett-Packard, according to a report from Mumbai. There’s no doubt Telecom are looking at a potential very big outsourcing move which could take large numbers of Kiwi jobs offshore.

I just happened to have also been sent the article I think he based his story on which says that India’s top outsourcing vendors Tech Mahindra and Wipro, apart from multinational rivals IBM and HP, are currently in discussions with Telecom for a contract potentially worth up to $1 billion and plans to cut costs and improve profits by outsourcing non-core IT work.

All in line with information I’ve been given previously, which Telecom has been denying.

Two weeks ago Telecom announced it was axing 200 managers, mainly from Telecom Technology and Telecom shared services. It is my understanding that those jobs represent a workforce of between 1000 and 2000. There are a myriad of projects and other jobs within Telecom that will be affected.

Last week we saw Telstra Clear announces it will cut up to 170 call centre jobs in Christchurch and Paraparaumu to outsource them to the Philippines. Unrelated, but part of an ongoing and worrying trend.

Acrosss the ditch yesterday we saw Telstra announce it was axing 900 operations employees responsible for installing and maintaining the telco’s infrastructure networks, saying technology has made the roles redundant. 

Telecom is contemplating massive change. I think they should come clean  becasue there’s so many jobs at stake. I also think the government should pay attention. This is our telecommunications infrastructure.

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Filed under: comms & IT, infrastructure, jobs, outsourcing
42 Comments

Pressure building on broadband

Posted by Clare Curran on April 28th, 2010

Big decision ahead for the government. Who will get the $1.5 billion for rolling out ultrafast broadband. As much as Steven Joyce wants everyone to think the decision won’t be made by him, but by outsourcing to Crown Fibre Holdings, it will be. And should be. He’s ultimately accountable. And so is John Key.

The outsourcing argument isn’t good enough. Ultrafast broadband for 75% of NZ households was the government’s biggest election pledge. It’s taken almost two years to turn their slogan into a deliverable. And they’re not there yet. By a long shot.

The Crown Fibre Holdings Company has been set up to make it work. They’ve got a mammoth task. NO doubt they are competent and taking things seriously. The decision will set the future of telecommunications in this country for the next decade or so.

Do they swing towards electricity lines companies rolling out fibre, or towards Telecom, our biggest telco, which is under serious pressure.

If they go with the former, then the shape of the electricity industry will change dramatically. It will mean convergence of networks. That’s a very interesting proposition. But it will make Telecom’s future questionable.

If they go with the latter it will require structural separation of Telecom. Which will also seriously impact on Telecom. Telcom has made some bad decisions, they have under-invested in our telecommunications infrastructure. They have a copper network that still has life in it, but will be surpassed.

Telecom is worthy of serious consideration for broadband. So are the electricity lines companies. But which is the right decision?  This is a very difficult decision for the government.

Why is Steven Joyce so silent on these issues. And why is the process so secret and drawn out? After all it is taxpayers money.

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Filed under: broadband, economy, infrastructure
11 Comments

Smokescreens and separations

Posted by Clare Curran on April 16th, 2010

Telecom’s axing of 200 management jobs yesterday has serious implications.

I understand those jobs are being axed mainly from Telecom Technology and Telecom shared services. It is my understanding that the 200 managers axed represent a workforce of between 1000 and 2000. There are a myriad of projects and other jobs within Telecom that will be affected.

Rumours have been circulating that Telecom is using the pressures of operational separation as a smokescreen to mask its plans to outsource and ultimately offshore up to a third of its workforce in the long term.

Telecom owns and manages one of the largest pieces of core infrastructure in New Zealand. Our national telephone network. Our landlines. Our ability to call a 111 service. Telecom services almost every household in the country in some way.

Telecom has underinvested in its network. It has made some unwise and questionable decisions in the past.

It holds the majority of our ICT infrastructure. It is not just a private company, it is a privatised national asset. The government is foolish to continue to maintain a hands off position on this matter. Labour believes there are public interest issues at stake.

Ernie Newman from Telecommunications users group TUANZ has today sensibly said that Telecom’s strong hint yesterday that it might split into two companies would allow Telecom to have a future in telecommunciations.

It could be in Telecom’s best interests to remove any questions about it operating in a level playing field by splitting its network business Chorus into a separate company. This would require a review of its undertakings and may make many of them redundant. Interesting that Telecom is now signalling separating its business when it was adament a few months ago that it wasn’t.

Telecom should have a future in NZ. Its future has to lie in fibre and not copper. But it must also behave responsibly. Keeping kiwi jobs and a strong telecommunications skills base in NZ is a part of that.

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Filed under: Skills, broadband, comms & IT, infrastructure, jobs
15 Comments

Something big is happening at Telecom

Posted by Clare Curran on April 15th, 2010

There’s something big going down with Telecom.
This morning this notification was made by the NZ stock exchange

NZX Regulation advises that, at the request of the company, it has placed a trading halt on Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited Ordinary Shares (TEL) pending a material announcement by the company.

This means something big is happening. What?

More to follow

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Filed under: business, comms & IT, economy, infrastructure
19 Comments

Another reason why govt should pay attention to our core infrastructure

Posted by Clare Curran on March 22nd, 2010

Computer World ran this piece today which highlights the stresses in the plain old telephone network (POTs) run by Telecom. Years of under-investment and just general deterioration.

Juha Saarinen writes in Computer World:

The recent failure of the 111 emergency service — no, not for the new XT 3G mobile network, but for Telecom’s landlines in Auckland and Northland — drew attention to the fact that the incumbent operates the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) on equipment that was installed in the early 1980s.

What’s more, the gear will be in the PSTN, also known as Plain Old Telephony System (POTS), for another decade at least, making it up to 40 years old before it is decommissioned and replaced with newer stuff.

Highlights the fragility of our infrastructure (aka Transpower and the national grid). It also brings into sharp relief the need for the government to pay attention.

And raises questions around ownership of our national infrastructure.

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Filed under: comms & IT, infrastructure
8 Comments

So Govt ‘taking an interest’ in XT failures after all!

Posted by Clare Curran on March 22nd, 2010

Despite the “We can’t get involved because Telecom is a private company comments” it seems the Government (Steven Joyce)  feels it needs to have a role in overseeing the independent inquiry in the XT network failures.

An article on the Stuff website today reports:

Communications Minister Steven Joyce’s office was emailed a Labour Party press release by another minister’s office which said: “Joyce not fighting for XT customers.”

The email was headed: “Another twist along the way, hopefully soon to be superseded.”

Ministry of Economic Development information and communication technology regulation manager Reg Hammond then gave Joyce advice on a draft press statement.

“This looks fine to me – puts the ball back into Telecom’s court but shows we/govt are taking it v-seriously,” Hammond wrote.

The emails show Telecom moved late on the day after the February 22 outage to add XT’s 111 service to the AM review.

Interesting.

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Filed under: comms & IT, infrastructure
2 Comments

Gattung

Posted by Clare Curran on March 5th, 2010

Worth reading.

By the way. Am completely proud of the previous government’s record on telecommunications reform. It was brave and forward thinking and ultimately about the shape of the whole industry, not just the fortunes of one company that had an entrenched monopoly. That was due to David Cunliffe.

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Filed under: comms & IT
20 Comments

Critical infrastructure yes?

Posted by Clare Curran on March 4th, 2010

Two recent pieces of interest in the NZ Herald. Fran O’Sullivan’s piece yesterday titled: Failures make us look third world. About, yes you’ve guessed it, Telecom’s XT network failures and Transpower’s outage in Auckland.

She’s concerned that these outages were:

to put it kindly, more like what you might expect to occur in South America or parts of Southeast Asia

and then says:

Infrastructure failures do occur. But in Telecom’s case the excuses tendered by chief executive Paul Reynolds (who either doesn’t know what caused the failures or is simply using confusion to obfuscate what critics claim is the failure to scale up the XT network fast enough to meet escalating demand) verge on a Monty Python skit.

The absurdity of Transpower needing to call in police assistance to protect its workers when they went on to an irate farmer’s land to fix the electricity transmission company’s pylon was also bizarre.

Both these failures exposed the fragility of some of the nation’s critical infrastructure: Telecom does not have a back-up network for its XT service which will automatically kick in when failures occur.

And she hopes that the Govt’s national infrastructure plan will address the issues. But is concerned that it won’t go far enough. And I agree.

The second piece just updated on the Herald website is somewhat horrifying.

Telecom is giving out rival 2degrees’ services to key hospital staff on XT as backup in case the network, which has failed four times since December, goes down.

The Herald reports that this is what’s happening in the Canterbury DHB. Otago Southland DHB is reviewing its contract with Telecom and in the Hutt Valley, north of Wellington, Telecom began transferring clinical hospital staff to a reliable network after four outages that could have jeopardised emergency responses.

Capital and Coast, Blenheim’s Wairau Hospital and Hawkes Bay DHBs have either moved to pagers or are reassessing their contracts with Telecom.

So tell me that a functioning mobile network is not critical infrastructure?

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Filed under: comms & IT, infrastructure
6 Comments

Telco consumers need a voice and guaranteed standards

Posted by Clare Curran on March 3rd, 2010

Thoughtful editorial by the NZ Herald yesterday about Telecom’s XT woes, its culpability and the possible role of government.

Two sentences I particularly agree with:

“Few things are guaranteed to raise ire as much as a useless piece of expensive technology.”

“There comes a point when nothing can compensate for a piece of equipment that does not work when needed.”

I also agree with Ernie Newman of the Telecommunication Users Association (TUANZ) who says that if Telecom did not do something drastic to help its customers, it was time for the Government to step into what was a national economic issue.

But what I don’t agree with is the Herald’s conclusion that:

such a situation would exist only if Telecom enjoyed monopoly status in the mobile-phone market. Such is not the case, with Vodafone and the fledgling 2degrees offering competition. That means it falls to Telecom’s customers to punish the company if they so wish.

Three points to make here.

The XT network is part of New Zealand’s core infrastructure. People rely on it for communication; social, business and emergency. Competition does not overturn this. Steven Joyce is moving in this direction by indicating that mobile performance standards may be regulated under the TSO (the old Kiwi share). We agree but regret it is necessary.

Then there’s consistent standards. The failure of 111 has drawn attention to the nature of our critical infrastructure. Too many NZers rely on mobile phones for most, if not all their calls for this not to be an issue. Are there consistent standards for delivery of service to NZers? Are there consistent standards that a network must meet in order to remain viable?

And a government that takes information access seriously ought to be procative about ensuring progress towards universal availablity and reliability.

And finally, who should be representing the voices of New Zealand people on these issue? TUANZ has a mandate to represent the players in the marketplace. It does a good job, but its mandate isn’t to speak on behalf of New Zealand domestic consumers.

Consumer NZ has made one statement to my knowledge, advising XT customers to contact Telecom if they have problems or rival networks to negotiate the best deal. That’s fine, but it’s not really sticking up for people is it.

As for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs! What is it that they do again? Under Heather Roy?

That leaves the Labour Opposition.

In Australia, the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy recognised there was a gap early on and established (and properly funded) a new body to represent consumers; ACCAN, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network.

This is what they do, and I think New Zealand should consider whether it needs a similar body.

ACCAN is the peak body that represents all consumers on communications issues including telecommunications, broadband and emerging new services. ACCAN provides a strong unified voice to industry and government as consumers work towards availability, accessibility and affordability of communications services for all Australians. Consumers need ACCAN to promote better consumer protection outcomes ensuring speedy responses to complaints and issues.

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Filed under: comms & IT, infrastructure
16 Comments

I don’t care about compensation. I want a network that works!

Posted by Clare Curran on February 28th, 2010

This is  what I’m hearing from young mothers. From people who rely utterly on their mobile phone and who don’t have a landline. Who don’t have a lot of discretionary income, so texting is the primary form of communication. Who need a working phone to be able to get through their day, juggling children, a job and other family responsibilities.

Telecom’s XT network is a critical piece of new infrastructure. It’s new, it’s supposed to be the future and it should work.

There is now a growing clamour for answers about the XT network and about the 111 service, which is part of what’s called the plain old telephone service (or POTs). In other words, POTs should never break down. It’s part of that institution called the NZ Post Office which Telecom emerged from when it was privatised.

Telecom is now hastily trying to increase the capacity and resilience of the new network which strongly suggests that the new network went live without enough capacity and the degree of resilience required.

The number of outages bears this out and serious questions must be asked of Telecom as to what testing procedures were undertaken before it went to market; whether it was properly funded and whether it has sufficient resilience to give the public confidence in this important piece of new infrastructure.

On TVNZ’s Q&A this morning, Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds kept repeating how angry he was at the outages in the network. I don’t think being angry cuts the mustard any more. He needs to take responsibility and inform the public.

At what point is he going to reveal just what lies behind the network’s fragility? And what does the government have to say on behalf of the New Zealand public? Steven Joyce continues to duck and weave. At some point the public pressure will overtake his reluctance to get involved. I wonder what MED are thinking and what their advice to him is right now?

You are not allowed to put a new car into the marketplace without a rigorous set of tests and without it meeting a set of required safety standards. Nor should you be able to flick the switch on a new mobile network without appropriate testing.

Telecom’s got some serious explaining to do. I think the Government should be demanding answers. I worry that consumers like the mum who told me she just wants a network that works doesn’t seem to have a voice.

Who is representing consumers here? Seems like a big gaping hole to me.

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Filed under: comms & IT, privatisation
19 Comments

Steven Joyce used the “r” word today

Posted by Clare Curran on February 23rd, 2010

Finally, Steven Joyce seems to have woken up to the fact that he’s a Minister, and there’s a crisis happening in one of his many portfolios. And when there’s a crisis, the public like to think that the government takes charge.

He’s waited way too long to make a move. And that will cost him. I don’t think he’s behaving like a strong Minister, and I think it’s interesting that despite the persona, the Telecom crisis saw him standing back wringing his hands, saying while it was “concerned, the government couldn’t really do anything”.

Suddenly, this afternoon, that changed. He decided the government did have a role after all. I wonder whether it was because John Key told him to say something and he finally asked for some advice.

For a Minister who has seemed almost unnaturally averse to the concept of regulation, it was a surprise to hear Steven Joyce say today that the government may have to regulate. Out of character.

This is some of what he said: 

… ensuring 111 calls made from mobile telephone networks get through is vital.

“The recent spate of outages on the XT network has exposed some shortcomings in this area and officials have been working urgently with Telecom since last evening to address these issues.”

Currently, Telecom is obliged under the Telecommunications Services Obligation (TSO) to provide emergency calling on its fixed network. However, mobile phones are not covered by the TSO.

Mr Joyce says that the government may need to regulate to ensure that operators prioritise 111 calls in situations where networks become unstable.

Well, it’s taken days for him to come to that view and I believe he’s been negligent in not getting involved earlier.

It’s ironic that he’s talking about regulation, the day after it appeared he would lean towards not regulating the termination rates on mobile calls, after two of the main players, Vodafone and Telecom offered to further phase in a reduction of rates.

Maybe he’s realising that customers need to come first. It’s a reality that there must be a charge for terminating a call or text, but it needs to be fair. For the consumer and also for the third player in the marketplace. But he’s acted too late and and he’s shown himself not to be strong and decisive. 

Maybe he’s finally realised that where a significant public interest is at stake, the government does have a role. Watch this space, because the PM has a political nose and he’ll get involved. And if he does, then Steven will be damaged.

This isn’t just about the XT network. It’s about NZ Inc.

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Filed under: comms & IT, economy, infrastructure, regulation
9 Comments

Finally, Steven Joyce said something

Posted by Clare Curran on February 23rd, 2010

After calls from myself and Ernie Newman from the Telecomunications Users Association for Steven Joyce to intervene in the Telecom debacle, Steven Joyce has finally said something. Not much, but at least he’s said something.

I’ve been saying for days that the Minister should intervene with Telecom on the XT outages. This morning I called for Steven to get on the blower to Telecom. He now says he has had a discussion with Telecom. But it’s not enough.

This is a critical infrastructure issue. What happens to people who rely on their mobile phones in an emergency? How can they be reassured they can make the calls they need to when they need to. Let alone the appalling effect on business.

Joyce. You are a Minister.  People expect you to take a leadership role.

Meantime, the issue gains momentum. Today the Alcatel-Lucent CEO in NZ has resigned. In news just in, the Chief Technology Transformation Officer for Telecom Frank Mount has resigned. This is crisis stuff for Telecom and a critical piece of new New Zealand infrastructure.

Meantime, no decisions have been made on who and how ultrafast broadbanad will be laid out in New Zealand. Fifteen months since the election. Not one millimetre of govt-funded fibre laid. The Govt’s biggest election pledge. Steven Joyce is the Minister.

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Filed under: broadband, comms & IT, infrastructure
14 Comments

So what does Steven Joyce really think

Posted by Clare Curran on February 11th, 2010

It looks as though Steven Joyce is paying  a bit of attention to what’s happening over at Telecom after all.

The ICT Minister has distanced himself from a statement made by his office implying news articles about possible Telecom job losses and the XT network outages are a media beat-up.

Read the rest of this piece from the Telecommunications Review titled Joyce denies ‘media beat up’ comment.

Steven Joyce’s retraction follows a comment on my Red Alert post Talk to Telecom Steven…keep our jobs Kiwi by James, who said he’d emailed Joyce’s office. See below for what he asked and the reply from Joyce’s office. 

Apparently that wasn’t correct, and Joyce hadn’t meant to blame the media. Says he is interested but can’t get involved. And that he’s talked to Telecom. Wonder what else they talked about.

James says:
February 8, 2010 at 6:03 pm  (Edit)

Clare, On Wednesday 3, I emailed Joyce’s office:
1. Do you plan to discuss the issues as described within the article
above with Telecom, and try and assist keeping the jobs of
numerous New Zealanders whos jobs could be at jeopardy?
2. Have you discussed the issues as described within the article
above with Telecom, or any Telecom staff, if so, when, and what
was the conclusion?
3. Has he discussed with Telecom the XT failures and the lack of
investment in infrastructure?

Today I got the following statement:
Thanks for your email below regarding Telecom jobs and the XT network.

I can advise on behalf of the Minister that Telecom has been in touch with his office and that in both cases the story has been overblown by the media.

The Minister has discussed the XT Network situation with Telecom and Telecom are very concerned about the network, and recognise that they have to fix it to keep faith with customers.
ENDS.

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Filed under: Red Alert, comms & IT, jobs
4 Comments

Talk to Telecom Steven… keep our jobs kiwi

Posted by Clare Curran on February 3rd, 2010

I wonder what this government thinks its job is? I know what I think is one of its jobs and I reckon that most New Zealanders would agree. Making sure, as much as possible, that as many Kiwis as possible have jobs. Good jobs hopefully, but jobs nonetheless.

Following today’s news that Telecom is looking at outsourcing possibly up to 1500 highly skilled jobs offshore, take a look at this poll on www.stuff.co.nz (screenshot below from 5:00pm 03/02/09)

stuff_poll

In the light of this, will the government get off its backside and do what a government is supposed to do? Look after kiwis.

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Filed under: comms & IT, jobs
43 Comments

PR reflections: Telecom and National Standards

Posted by Clare Curran on February 3rd, 2010

Two issues that have made major headlines this week have significant PR campaigns attached and bear comment.

The first is Telecom’s XT debacle. Horror stuff for any company. From a public relations perspective they’ve handled it well, mostly. A bit differently to what I would have expected to be honest. Owned up, said sorry, instituted an independent inquiry and compensated those affected. Fronted by the top guy. Good stuff.

Small issues remain to make sure it never happens again and find out what went wrong! Not to mention the extraordinary cost to many individuals and businesses who increasingly rely on mobile technology for basic communication and business. And the issue of large numbers of hi tech Telecom jobs going offshore. But marks to Telecom for fronting.

The second issue is the Anne Tolley-led National Standards debacle. I say debacle because from a PR point of view, which is what the National Government has become quite adept at, it’s simply not working. Because it’s crap.

There’s an expression in the PR industry  (see my history at the end of this post), which is worth remembering. It is; that the people are not stupid. Or as my mother would say; don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes!

National Standards is a PR nightmare. And it’s only just beginning Anne. The worst thing you did was to pretend all through 2009 that parents wanted National Standards and that they were supporting them. I think we’re now seeing that parents didn’t really know what you were on about.

You asked a series of questions in your political market research aimed at getting answers that would reinforce your agenda.

Such as: “Do you want to know how your child is doing at school compared with others and compared with how they should be doing?”

“Do you think your child’s school should be accountable on how well your child is doing?”

Well it’s easy to answer yes to those questions. It’s not so easy to argue against a tide of resistance from teachers, principals and a growing number of Boards of Trustees as well as some of the most experienced and qualified educationalists in this country and the world for a system that is proven not to work.

Do we want to alienate our primary school teachers and tell them they’re all wrong? Do we really think they’re all making it up and trying to feather their own nests? Every teacher at my children’s school is passionate about their craft. Every teacher I come across generally is.

I value teachers as I do nurses, coppers, members of the fire brigade. It’s an honourable profession and Anne Tolley (and John Key) have mistakenly pitted themselves against them. Bad decision. And bad PR.

As a parent, if I had to pick between believing my kids’ teachers and a politician who’s agenda I didn’t understand, who would I pick? And hey, I’m a politician now.

About me:
For those of you who don’t know, I worked for 19 years in the public relations industry. In Australia and New Zealand. I did what’s called progressive PR, working on things I believed in and mostly for organisations that didn’t have a lot of dosh.

And I’ve worked on some pretty interesting and important issues. I know the industry. I believe in it. I am a champion for the values that underpin communications and for the organisation that represents the professionals; the Public Relations Institute of NZ (PRINZ).

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Filed under: children, comms & IT, education
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