SKT Sky Network Television Limited.

[mistaTea]

I hate SKY with a passion and look forward to their demise.

Without a doubt, Sky lost the customer-focus (partly due to having no real competition for entertainment until around 2014/2015...and only beginning to have Sport competition now with Spark...).

By forcing a massive potential cohort of avid Spots fans to purchase other packages (that they don't really want) before they could add sport on has not proven to be a winning strategy in the long term (even though generous profits were generated in the meantime).

Amongst the questionable decisions, it's not all doom and gloom though. Sky has pumped a lot of money into local communities through various sports productions, created many jobs in NZ and has generated significant tax revenues to help our various governments meet their social agendas.

With a little luck, and a brand new focus on value delivery - I sure hope we can win you back RTM.

[mistaTea]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/technolog...ectid=12216881

Gonna be interesting to see what the viewing experience turns out to be for the viewers without Fibre.

Even the fibre network would potentially struggle to keep up with the huge data spikes during live broadcasts if everyone was connected?

Does anyone know what the fibre capacity is in NZ before the network starts to groan?

[carrom74]

This news must be music to the ears for SKY..

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/new...ectid=12217868

[mistaTea]

This news must be music to the ears for SKY..

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/new...ectid=12217868

Well, they will definitely be watching how Spark get on with a keen interest.

In some ways it will be a blessing for Spark to have a few issues now while the demand for their app is relatively low (I think I read somewhere that they only have 9000 subscribers right now).

Otherwise they might get a false sense of security only to have it all go tits up during RWC, which would be a huge disaster.

Online streaming is a tough gig though - and, if I am not mistaken, the amount of issues will only increase over time as more and more people start consuming their content online (and data traffic jams occur during peak times).

Sounds like this particular issue was more to do with their platform though, not the network.

[mistaTea]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12218055

Now see, this is exactly what I am talking about when it comes to Chris Keall's bias reporting.

I guarantee you if Sky's FANPASS (or even traditional satellite coverage) had any issues he would be ripping the company a new one like he has in the past.

I swear this guy owns shares in Spark or something. This article is so mealy-mouthed, with each 'criticism' quickly followed by assertions that the issue was quickly resolved and everything is all good now.

No big attention-grabbing Headline either like "SPARK PLATFORM MELTDOWN" (or some other unreasonably strongly worded Headline like he does for many Sky articles...)

[mistaTea]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12218774

Gapping it well before an announcement to the market about how much Shareholders have spent on Sport?

[Sideshow Bob]

Kiltearn buying a few more.....I thought they'd been selling down??

http://nzx-prod-s7fsd7f98s.s3-websit...139/298126.pdf

[SilverBack]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/technolog...ectid=12216881

Does anyone know what the fibre capacity is in NZ before the network starts to groan?

Now there is a complicated question. Which part of the network do you have in mind? The fibre tail circuits to the houses freom Chorus etc are quite adequate but then they are "multiplexed" into another fibre at a local cabinet or exchange using GPON and there will be another concentration at the exchange. From the exchange back to the ISP a "backbone" network exists to channnel all the traffic which usually needs to be then rerouted overseas using the Southern Cross cables (I cannot remember if the new competitor to Southern Cross has its cables operating yet). So which part of the network's capacity are you interested in? Microwave transmission also forms part of the backbone network.
The telcos are continually monitoring network activity and planning upgrades. These days mobile traffic is also an important load that passes across the backbone network from the cell towers.
I would not worry about capacity meeting demand. It has been a long time since I encountered serious degradation from increased usage. The main players have capacity planning well in hand and have been dealing with the explosion of activity over recent years rather well, I feel. Spark is still the main provider of the backbone network with other circuits from Vocus and the other outfit whose name escapes me but I think was taken over not so long ago anyway.

[mistaTea]

Now there is a complicated question. Which part of the network do you have in mind?

I suppose I am referring to the main conduit or "backbone", as you put it.

If, in addition to the normal internet traffic, an additional - say, 2 - 3 Petabytes per hour was suddenly put onto the network as a large number of residents stream the RWC in HD all at once... the network should handle it?

I know very little about networks to be fair, so I may be asking the wrong question.

[mistaTea]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12221518

Big (long overdue) slashes to pricing for FANPASS.

I contacted Chris Keall to let him know that it is possible already to stream FANPASS to the big screen (using Chromecast etc). This option is only disabled if you opt for the $15.99/month 'mobile only' option.

He emailed back acknowledgement of my email, but not sure if he will amend his article.

I thought they may have gone even sharper on the price if you took the 6 month contract option (like 30 bucks maybe). But then I remembered they have the special deal with Spark whereby their customers can get FANPASS for $30 a month of they sign up for 12 months. So I guess if they started offering it to everyone for $30 then the special Spark deal wouldn't be so special anymore? Just a thought.