Stuart Corner
Monday, 16 June 2008 06:27
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
The second-tier ISPs consistently outperformed the city average, occupying between two and four of the top five places in each centre. MaxNet took second place in Auckland and Wellington, Snap was number two in Christchurch and Compass was second-ranked in Hamilton and Dunedin. A standout feature of Auckland's broadband performance was that four of the top five ISPs were smaller, 2nd tier service providers.
While TelstraClear DSL took the lead with a score of 3790, 42 percent above the Auckland average, MaxNet, KiwiOnline, Inspire and WorldExchange all achieved outcomes that were up to 28 percent above city average.
However the report notes: "These outcomes must be seen in context. Epitiro-IDC believes a key factor is that small Tier 2 ISPs have relatively uncontended networks with few users at any one time. Many have a dedicated focus on smaller higher-value audiences. By comparison, Vodafone, Telecom, Slingshot and Orcon have much larger and rapidly growing subscriber bases, leading to heavier network loading and contention. This has a particular impact on Telecom, given that it has over 60 percent retail broadband market share.
"Another factor is that in the three main centres a number of Tier 2 ISPs were only measured at one central city site, whereas the top five ISPs were measured at three sites including suburbs."
Overall, in the March quarter, TelstraClear Cable, TelstraClear DSL and Orcon recorded the top outcomes. TelstraClear took leadership in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch where it has its own cable and DSL network, while Orcon was the top performing ISP in Hamilton and Dunedin. However both service providers had mid to below-average outcomes outside of these cities.
Other leading ISPs achieved only average or below average results, and reported a wide variation between their highest and lowest city scores ranging from 20 percent (Vodafone) to 86 percent (Telecom). In Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Telecom's results were between 26 percent and 32 percent below each city's average. Vodafone and Slingshot both achieved similar outcomes that were consistently mid-range to below average across all cities.
This is only the first such report. Epitiro-IDC says the index will evolve to compare results on a rolling quarterly basis and that it will also increasingly provide qualitative insight into ISP investment plans and outcomes, providing the picture behind the data. If only Australia's Communications and Media Authority, or the ACCC, would do something similar. The ACCC's action seems not to have gone beyond threatening ISPs with misleading advertising over speed claims.
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