A bit loopy

I wonder what Telescum is paying David Cunliffe (our telecommunications minister) in order for him to withhold his plea to request - nay, demand - local loop unbundling. For anyone that may read this in future, basically, New Zealand is ranked 23rd of OECD countries when it comes to telecommunications. I talk to international customers from time to time where I work and frequently I've heard our so-called broadband referred to as "third world" and that our country is "five or six years behind the rest of the world".

As a technofreek, no wonder I have this urge to go overseas - escaping the drudgery that is pseudo-highspeed internet. I've felt like tearing my hair out at times due to the ignorance of so many people in this country - and especially at the greed and ignorance of our government when it comes to unbundling the local loops. All they have to do is tell that multi-billion dollar giant "no!", and give a fair chance to other companies. Competition is needed, not thousands of Kiwis crying out for change and absolutely no progress being made.

I wrote a letter to Hon. Minister Cunliffe this morning. I basically copied what the Ihug website suggested as an email to our current telecommunications minister. Apparently there is some sort of referendum in June - but we already know the outcome. Oh, what a pity I won't be here to see Telecom pull the wool over our nation's eyes again. I'll be enjoying 30mb/s speeds with the rest of the civilised world.

I don't have a copy of the letter that was addressed to our benevolent government representative (har-har) but it basically went along the lines of how we as New Zealanders are sick of Telecom's pwnage and downright dishonesty and in holding us back in the 20th century for the sake of control and, no doubt, of money - after all, when you control the phone lines, you control the Internet. It's called a monopoly. I'm sick of passing Go... :(

Here are some comments from a few other disgruntled Kiwis, all of whom are as sick of this fiasco as I am:

"In a supposedly free market economy how can the Govt. possibly justify supporting a virtual monopoly that acts like one and exploits and represses the market accordingly. They talk about a "knowledge economy" and yet refuse to act on it's single biggest impediment. I regard this as a voting issue."

"The new 'faster' offering from Telecom - "to avoid the rush sign up to Xtra Broadband now!" - this is an insult to our intelligence and a slap in the face to all New Zealanders ; it's embarrassing having to explain what a 'data cap' is to friends overseas, not to mention the pathetic speeds we are forced to accept."

"One can get very good at solitaire while waiting for something to download."

"I get abused every week about how crap NZ Broadband is in regards towards Telecom. Ironically, I'm a contractor to Telecom and hear from a lot of our customers, most of whom have simply bought the service because it's all they could get... a whole lot of nothing!"

"If the government doesn't do something soon to remedy this situation then people will think that they have a vested interest in keeping Telecom in sole control of broadband. Maybe some members of the government are being financially rewarded for their lack of effort on our behalf?"

"It is unbelievable that there is even a debate on the issue of faster broadband. This is a 'no brainer.' The lack of action by the government is incomprehensible; it would suggest they are more concerned with protecting offshore investors interests than they are in providing an environment where N.Z. companies can compete internationally on a level playing field. Surely this can not be case?"

Unfortunately for us, this is the case - this is our reality. We have our hands tied behind our backs and no amount of yelling and screaming has brought - or, it seems, will ever bring - the knife to cut the cords. Our slow-speed broadband Internet is pathetic. It is overpriced and underpowered and shows just how little our government cares about the good of the people. Recommendation: don't come to our country until Telescum either relents and repents or has been burned to the ground by a mob of angry Kiwis who reached the end of their cyber-loving wick.

I wonder how long it will take for this entry to post on my super-highspeed 2megabitpersecond connection :s And oh, this current "highspeed" Internet was only implemented in the last year or so. We were lucky to have 256mbit/s connections prior to two years ago, outside of cable connections (of which there have always been download caps - exceeding the pathetically small download limit wasn't - and isn't - worth the cost; literally).

Now I can go to bed happy :P

-Timotheos