Kordia Blog

Steve Roberts: This is my last blog with Kordia. After many years with this great company, I am moving to a new organisation to tackle new challenges. What a blast it has been, and boy how broadcasting and technology have changed.

From reasonably simple State-run radio and television services in the 70s, New Zealand moved into a very unregulated market approach. Competitive radio and television took off and is now well embedded in our daily lives.

There are dozens of terrestrial and satellite channels available to our widely dispersed population plus thousands of ‘broadcasters’ on the Internet – if you have a decent broadband connection. Plus, print media companies now offer video in their online news sites.

But just when you thought things could be settling down (or perhaps recovering after the GFC), the Government's Ultra Fast Broadband investment is about to change things yet again – in a very big way!

The UFB will deliver what we are today calling ‘very high speed’ services into our homes and businesses. But what speed will we call ‘high speed’ tomorrow?

The Service Providers (the ISP’s and telecommunication operators) you currently buy your telephone and broadband services from may start by offering ‘only’ 30Mbps to 100Mbps broadband speeds on the UFB, but it is capable of Gigabit per second connectivity to and from every one of our homes and offices.

What will we be able to do with that? Every UFB commentator has a view on what that capacity could, or will, be used for. And it’s fair to say the industry cannot give many concrete answers. But, it is that future capability and promise that will eventually unleash our thinking and collective creativity.

Broadcasters – and other content creators – will definitely have a big part to play in the overall success of the UFB. We can probably be convinced to move to a UFB connection if all the broadcast and entertainment services we currently subscribe can be delivered on the UBF.

With more of us on the UFB, the probability increases significantly that Government’s education and health improvement policy objectives will be met.

The transition to high speed fibre optic connections is already changing the broadcast and media landscape in Australia. Telstra recently confirmed their intention to compete in the television space by spending over AUD$1Bn on the five year rights to the AFL, plus iiNet began offering Fetch TV services to their customers.

But as we know, not all broadband/speed is equal. Quality of service is an essential component to ensure all services meet our reliability and performance requirements.

Making clear reliable phone calls, especially to emergency service organisations, is not negotiable. It’s a must have. Some people feel similarly about their television services, and future delivery networks (the UFB) must facilitate these different quality and performance needs.

New Zealand Service Providers that best meet our overall service needs will be those that demonstrate they are flexible and quick to market with our current voice and broadband needs. Importantly, they must also show they can meet all our home entertainment and broadcast needs as well. 

While we could have different voice, broadband, and television Service Providers in our homes and businesses, why would we want to make it so complicated for ourselves?

Services packages, with flexible options that allow us to tailor service mixes to meet our unique needs, are key. Service providers need to navigate their way through technical and commercial issues to reach that goal. Those that move soonest will risk more, but will also learn the lessons first and be able to offer ‘the right mix’ of services and content that we will then want to buy in the future.

UFB changes everything – and content remains king.