WorldxChange Director, Operations and Carrier, Paul Clarkin

"We felt there was a strong business in New Zealand and plenty of potential which we could develop on our own terms," says WorldxChange Director, Operations and Carrier, Paul Clarkin.

Working with Telecom Wholesale, WorldxChange has a solid business in tolls and access, but has invested considerable time and resources in developing their VoIP proposition.

"We started six years ago to converge voice and data so we believe we're well ahead of the pack when it comes to VoIP," says Paul.

While WorldxChange's first VoIP customers were predominantly technically savvy residential customers - such as gamers - they have continued to expand their base and recently recorded their billionth minute of carrier-grade Voice over IP traffic through their core network.

Working together

WorldxChange has partnered with Telecom Wholesale for the pilot of phone and superfast broadband services over fibre to new homes in subdivisions being developed in Orewa, Papakura, Cromwell, Queenstown and Wanaka.

Telecom Wholesale's ongoing consultation programme involves service providers in the product development process.

"We've worked with them to refine products such as the High Speed Network Service (HSNS) for IP-based services. They have a very pragmatic approach and we believe it's a worthwhile investment of our time," says Paul.

WorldxChange is also looking to the opportunities presented by Telecom's roll-out of ADSL2+ and the installation of more than 3600 cabinets, over the next four years, to support faster broadband speeds and more sophisticated online services.

Integrated ordering

For the day-to-day running of the business WorldxChange has integrated its own procurement system directly with Telecom Wholesale's online ordering and tracking (OO&T) for easy access to provisioning.

"Our in-house team of technicians were able to work with Telecom Wholesale to create a business to business system which has streamlined our customer service operation," says Paul.

Future developments

Paul believes the telecommunications industry has changed more in the past 18 months than the previous decade through a combination of new technology and the separation of Telecom into separate business units.

"Telecom Wholesale have demonstrated to us that they are willing to get on with working in the new environment and to get the job done," says Paul.

"It's exciting to consider what the future will bring for end users if the industry is able to make the new telecommunications model work."

Challenge

• Keeping ahead of technology trends
• Providing VoIP services to a growing customer base
• Supporting day-to-day business operations

Solution

• Working with Telecom Wholesale on new products
• Using Telecom Wholesale regulated and unregulated products
• Managing and tracking customer provisioning through OO&T