Published on the 25/10/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
The telco’s new wi-fi network is so popular it is thinking of increasing its target number of hotspots fivefold…
Last month Telecom New Zealand announced its plans to rapidly expand and commercialise its extensive national wi-fi network to encompass 2000 hotspots by mid-2014. Now, it has revealed that the response to its free trial period has been so positive it is considering shifting it aspirations towards 10,000 hotspots rather than 2000.
The hotspots have been available for use at selected public phone boxes since they were first trialled in a number of holiday locations last summer, however the number of hotspots has increased significantly reaching 700 by the time of the nation-wide launch earlier this month.
The wi-fi network was developed and implemented by Telecom Digital Ventures, the lean incubator-style business unit at Telecom designed to develop new and innovative business opportunities. Ed Hyde, SVP of mobility for the Digital Ventures team, says that since the nation-wide launch they have seen strong growth in registrations (although he cannot reveal total numbers). He did say, however, that they have seen a 20 percent growth in total data used in the last month as the number of access points in the national network continues to expand and more people register for the service.
“Feedback has been fantastic. Our wi-fi network has already attracted a huge number of smartphone users – both Kiwis and visitors – who have enjoyed the ability to do more things on the go.
“We always suspected that the wi-fi network would be popular, because it’s not just a great way to re-use the old phone booths; we also know that wi-fi is becoming increasingly popular world-wide as a way to use smartphones and connect to our digital lives. A large-scale wi-fi network is a really good way of helping customers make the most of their devices on-the-go 24/7 and is very complementary to Telecom’s other leading networks in mobile and broadband.”
Post-trial the wi-fi hotspots continue to offer 1GB per day free to all Telecom mobile customers on pay-monthly plans and on the $19 and $29 pre-paid packs. Other Telecom customers, customers of other mobile networks and visitors using a New Zealand or Australian mobile can continue to access the wi-fi network for a flat fee of just $9.95 per month, with more flexible pricing plans to come. Users need only register a device once, and they will automatically.
Upon launch Telecom Retail CEO Chris Quin said he wanted to encourage customers to use as much data as possible, “because we know how the smartphone applications and services they’re using are at the very centre of the way people now live, work and play”.
Adding free wi-fi to user plans and packs is another way to do this, helping customers to make the most of their devices anywhere and anytime. Indeed Hyde says a number of hotspots are getting particularly busy, with Queenstown being “consistently really popular”, thanks to high tourist numbers, ski-fields and other holiday attractions. Holiday hotspots in general are also popular during certain times of the year, and hotspots near active user demographics (like students) always get plenty of users. Those that are nearest larger populations or major thoroughfares are also popular, so some of the Auckland and Wellington spots get busy too.
