I retired from personal blogging in July 2008.
But you can find me over at http://blog.xero.com.
I usually like to post positive stuff but occasionally I’ll rant as I did on Vodafone’s international text pricing.
I do appreciate though Vodafone Comms Manager Paul Brislen commenting directly. That’s pretty cool and a massive step forward for the carriers.
I’m sure there was a lot of angst on whether to engage. Hats off to Paul and Vodafone for doing so. I think it’s a very significant step for NZ corporate communications.
On the Telecom side of the fence it’s also great to see the new management style in action. Having a spare night this week in Auckland we thought it would be great to meet the new CEO. After a couple of calls he accepted our dinner invitation and we had a very stimulating evening. Paul is a good guy, he is listening, his experience with BT is very relevant and after 3 weeks in the job people can already tell that he will be great for Telecom and for the country.
It is a fact of life that there will be a natural tension between the traditional carrier models and new IP based models that I’m sure many of you that read my blog are passionate about. Still we are customers of the carriers and depend on them. As Ernie from TUANZ has said this year New Zealand does need strong carriers (and competition) to provide the platform for other industries.

Rod - good work for getting in front of PR. Making him listen is good for you, but it’s also good for all of us. Ditto your positive comments bout Paul’s blog presence. I’m in Auckland today attempting to penetrate some corporate silos to effect change in this very area - creating a more open, more communicative and more proactive industry.
Did you broach the subject of peering ?
Absolutely. Had all the good conversations. State ownership, separation, Ferrit, Southern Cross, Mobile Data charges, how little of the SMS clip content providers get etc. etc. PR has been out talking to customers and knows the big issues.