Compass to extend Wired Country's network

Independent telecommunications company Compass Communications is planning to extend its wireless network beyond the Auckland region following the purchase of Wired Country.

Compass bought a large slice of broadband operator Wired Country from Counties Power last week for an undisclosed sum.

Half of one of Wired Country's primary assets -- wireless radio spectrum -- was sold to Telecom.

Wired Country provides broadband services in the Franklin, Papakura, Rodney, Auckland and Hamilton regions.

Compass picked up one lot of national spectrum rights and one lot of Auckland spectrum in the deal; a fibre network around Pukekohe; a wireless network in Auckland and Hamilton; and Wired Country's customer base.

Telecom, subject to Commerce Commission approval, will mop up the remainder. It has no immediate plans for the spectrum.

The sale value was not disclosed, but Counties Power paid $540,000 for the entire spectrum lot in a 2003 auction.

Compass chief executive Karim Hussona said the company has big plans to take Wired Country's service to other main centres, including Rotorua and Palmerston North.

"We already have a wireless service running in the unlicensed spectrum so we're already operating in that space," he told industry magazine Computerworld.

"With the management rights we'll be able to offer a better grade of service."

Compass bought another wireless network operator, Radionet, in 2002 and integrated customers, services and staff into its operation. It hopes to do the same with Wired Country and will be offering jobs to all Wired Country staff, Mr Hussona said.

"We'll continue to offer the Wired Country service to those customers who already have it, either directly or through existing retail partners, but in future we will be targeting the small to medium enterprise market rather than mass consumer market."

He said the ability to offer voice calls is key to the acquisition.

"We're a voice company at our core and being able to deliver voice service over the network is very important to us."

Mr Hussona said Compass will look closely at WiMax, the emerging standard for broadband wireless services.

WiMax can offer speeds of up to 50-100 megabits per second, although real world speeds will be less. One megabit amounts to a million electronic pulses of data per second. Few home broadband connections today offer higher download speeds than five megabits per second.

Compass will also take over Wired Country's Project Probe commitments in the Auckland region. Project Probe is the Government's plan to extend the reach of broadband into the regional and rural communities.

Compass was launched in 1995 by Mr Hussona and chief financial officer Paul Carter. It provides voice, fax, and data services.

- NZPA