Pakuranga finds Telecom engaged

Residents don't have access to simple Telecom services widely available elsewhere - such as caller ID - because its local exchange is too old to be updated and a new one is several years away, writes Andrea Jutson.
Complaints over the lack of Telecom services in Pakuranga will not bear fruit for another few years, says Telecom. It also says shutting down the old exchange is on the cards, as new technologies are introduced. In the wake of the Jenny Gibbs affair, when the multimillionaire complained to the NZ Herald that she couldn't get Telecom broadband internet access in Orakei's Paritai Drive, others have come forward to acknowledge similar problems getting Telecom services. Pakuranga's ageing exchange has caused frustration over its lack of new technologies such as faxability and caller ID. Faxability enables a fax machine and a phone to be used at the same time, on the same phone line. Without this, clients need two separate phone lines in order to allow calls to come through while a fax is in progress. Caller ID shows the telephone number of the caller while the phone is ringing, allowing customers to screen phone calls. Other standard phone services such as call-waiting, three-way phone calls and call-diversion are available in Pakuranga, but caller ID and faxability are two to three years away. ``Upgrading wouldn't be a good investment at this stage,'' says Telecom spokeswoman Sarah Berry. ``We have been telling customers that.'' A relatively complicated upgrade to enable caller ID and faxability at Pakuranga's ``legacy exchange'' - read outdated - would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Instead, Telecom is gradually closing down its older exchanges as it updates its technology. A new IP (internet protocol) network will replace the old system, enabling larger amounts of data as well as phone calls to use the old wires, but requiring fewer exchanges. Telecom has advised that Pakuranga is likely to be one of the exchanges to close, in two or three years' time. Meanwhile, customers can request a dual number service which offers both phone and fax services at the same cost as the faxability service. However, older fax machines are not able to distinguish between phone and fax calls on the dual number service.