Bill Bennett - New Zealand telecoms and technology news
WEBHome of the Download Weekly, the New Zealand telecommunications newsletter – also covers personal productivity tools and local technology issues.
What is this site about and who is Bill Bennett?
WEBBill Bennett is a freelance New Zealand technology and business journalist. He started writing about technology in 1980 as staff writer on Practical Computing magazine. He left the UK in 1987 to work in Wellington on The Dominion as Computer Page editor. He spent a decade working in Sydney, Australia. There he was managing editor of two ...
New Zealand got lucky twice with fast broadband - Bill Bennett
WEBMost New Zealanders have world class broadband. Our UFB network proved its worth again since the Covid–19 forced large numbers to work from home.
Extending New Zealand's fibre network - Bill Bennett
WEBNov 28, 2019 · The UFB1 fibre network reaches three quarters of New Zealand. UFB2 will stretch that to around 87 per cent. We can take fibre further, but that needs taxpayer money. A lot of it. When New Zealand built its copper telephone network, government saw it as a nation-building exercise. Copper phone wires reached almost everywhere.
The return of digital piracy - Bill Bennett
WEBSep 28, 2023 · A decade ago the media sector, in effect, saw off digital piracy. Now piracy is on the way back. Last week the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) published a report showing piracy declined slowly over the years until 2021 when the trend was reversed. Last year piracy ticked up 3.3 per cent. EUIPO's numbers are …
Benoit Felten on the UFB fibre upgrade - Bill Bennett
WEBIn late 2021 New Zealand’s fibre wholesale companies boosted standard speeds on their networks from 100 mbps to 300 mbps. Paris-based analyst Benoit Felton puts the move into perspective: As an international analyst of all things broadband, I use few examples more frequently than New Zealand when discussing decisive and effective policy.
How AI changes New Zealand work, jobs - Bill Bennett
WEBIn the face of an uncertain future, New Zealand must discourage over-specialisation in education. Education and training at all levels must equip young New Zealanders with a broad array of the skills and expertise required for an AI driven world. 1. This is vital. Too often we hear our economy needs STEM education and that’s the end of the story.
Covid's technology Great Leap Forward - Bill Bennett
WEBEarly in 2020 much of the world went into lockdown. Companies sent workers home to work. Schools sent students home to study. As a response, there was a surge in technology adoption.
A century for the Rural Connectivity Group
WEBThe Rural Connectivity Group is a joint venture between New Zealand’s three mobile carriers: Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees. It runs as an open access network. Some of the money funding comes from the Telecommunications Development Levy. The Provincial Growth Fund also contributes. Spark, Vodafone and …
NZ Tech Podcast discusses school phone ban - Bill Bennett
WEBAug 9, 2023 · This week on the NZ Tech Podcast Paul Spain and I discuss UNESCO's call to ban phones in school classrooms just hours before New Zealand's main opposition National Party announced it plans to impose similar rules if it wins this year's election. See Momentum building for school phone bans for more on what is happening elsewhere in the world.. The discussion links to a plan by the Cyberspace ...