There's something in the country air

Dairy farmers Lewis and Jenni Vaughan link up to BCL's wireless network. Picture / Fotopress

Chatting over the farm fence is perhaps the oldest form of communication in New Zealand so it comes as something of a surprise to find it being used to sell one of the newest - fixed wireless access.

The Government-owned wireless network operator BCL has been selling its broadband wholesale service eXtend for a year and managing director Geoff Lawson says word of mouth has proved itself to be the vital sales channel. "It's critical to our success, it really is."

Lawson said the wireless service hasn't had a single customer "churn away", something he says is remarkable for a relatively new technology. "It does take a while to gain that traction to sell the product into the market. We look at it as taking small steps on the way to building a critical mass."

BCL's business model is as wholesale provider of network capacity to telcos, so relies heavily on its retail partners to find customers for the service.

Telecom is BCL's biggest customer, servicing Fonterra's dairy farmer customers and also as partner for the Government's Project Probe rural broadband project.

However Telecom isn't BCL's only retail customer. Internet providers Iconz and Ihug have recently been joined by a third - Compass Communications - and Lawson hopes there will be more in the months ahead.

Lawson said the other half of the business - broadcasting both TV and radio signal around the country - is also proving to be solid in terms of revenue. "We've had quite a strong year in both halves and we've been investing in increased network coverage as a result," he said.

That includes increased capacity on BCL's microwave link as well as pushing out into new territory. "We're building in Queenstown at the moment and Invercargill as well shortly."

BCL is also engaging in work for Vodafone as the mobile giant builds its new third generation cellphone network around New Zealand.