Broadcasting may take on Telecom

Press, 6 December 1989, Page 47

Broadcasting may take on Telecom

PA Wellington Broadcasting Communications, Ltd’s, managing director, Mr Arthur Stacey, says a joint venture with Bell Canada may be the next international consortium to enter the local telecommunications business in competition with Telecom next year. Mr Stacey said the company - which operates a nationwide microwave network used mainly for television and radio - had been seeking advice from international companies, but specifically mentioned Bell Canada, the largest of the 10 telecommunications companies that constitute the Telecom Canada cooperative. This has a 62 per cent market share in Canada with 6.2 million, subscribers. Mr Stacey said Bell Canada was providing advice on the potential of the BCL microwave network to provide switched telecommunications services, though he emphasised that the company had yet to make any final commitment. Decisions on Bell Canada’s involvement would be made early next year. Mr Stacey said as telecommunications was already BCL’s core business, he did not see any great difficulty with the company’s shareholder, the Government, when or if BCL wanted to extend its operations. Now BCL does not have any switches on its network but in this respect it is no different from the MCI Todd Communications venture.

MCI Corporation’s senior vice-presi-dent, Mr Ted Trimmer, said last week

that no contract existed for switches on the Railways network. Ericsson’s managing director, Mr John Gilbertson, said the Swedish telecommunications company had had no dealings with MCI or Todd and the contract to install the MD 110 switch was solely with Railways. In terms of equipment installed, this places BCL ahead of the MCI Todd Communications consortium.

While BCL already operates a nationwide microwave network, Railways has said it can provide oqly one (effective) 8000-voice circuit (565-megabit a second) fibre-optic pair linking Auckland to Wellington via Palmerston North and Hamilton. Other links, between Palmerston North and Wellington and Auckland and Hamilton, exist but are not operational. BCL also offers the Taslink transTasman data communications service in association with Aussat. Mr Trimmer said the MCI Todd consortium had held discussions with Transpower regarding the possible use of the half dozen fibre-optic pairs between Benmore (Christchurch) and Haywards Hill (Wellington) that the company will have in place by 1991. Transpower’s communications manager, Mr Dougal Congalton, said talks were continuing on the possibility but no firm arrangements had been made. Mr Congalton said the fibre and installation costs were being met as part of the upgrade of the Cook Strait power transmission service.