Eftpos transaction firm ETSL has invited specialist and regional telco providers to provide all or part of a new internet protocol-based eftpos network.
Telecom provides the existing x.25-based network to ETSL and ANZ subsidiary Eftpos New Zealand.
But ETSL has made it clear that Telecom is not the onlygame in town.
It sent a "request for proposal" to nine firms in October, and expects to make a decision in the second quarter of next year.
ETSL business development manager Ron Brown said the company would consider a mix-and-match of suppliers if necessary.
He said media coverage of the Government's Probe internet access project had highlighted that there could be different possibilities for IP in different parts of the country.
Brown said ETSL had been jolted into seeking a replacement by an indication from Telecom that it would discontinue its existing network."That is the primary reason we are having to pursue it."
The Herald learned in October that December 2005 had been identified as the date for decommissioning the network, although Telecom said at the time that that would have been only a "planning date" and an actual date had not been set.
Brown said he hoped that by the second quarter, ETSL would have evaluated all responses, selected a supplier or suppliers, have board approval and have the network at least in the planning stage, if not under construction.
New Zealand has about 90,000 eftpos terminals, and Brown said ETSL believed that all would eventually use IP to communicate.
He said that although the new network would be IP, that did not mean it would be on the public internet as people understood it.
The eftpos network would be designed as a secure transaction system using IP infrastructure.
A further possibility was that ETSL might provide an internet cash payments system for purchasing across the internet without using a credit card.
Brown said ETSL was in a strong position because of its ownership by leading banks and its network.
He said cash payment systems were part of regular discussions with the banks.
It would be up to the banks to consider the risks of such a system compared with the current predominant method of using credit cards.
