September activity in New Zealand’s services sector returned to overall levels seen in July, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).The PSI for September was 56.0, which was 1.2 points lower than Augu…

Spark’s innovative wireless broadband product has been recognised as a finalist in the World Communication Awards. The nomination is for the Broadband Pioneer category, which seeks out global best practice examples of companies tha…

Activity in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector during September was largely unchanged from the previous month, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).
The seasonally adjusted PMI for September was 57.5 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was 0.4 points lower than August, but continued to display very healthy levels of expansion. Overall, the sector has remained in expansion in all months since October 2012.

Catherine Beard
Executive Director
ManufacturingNZ

BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said despite some uncertainty in the market, the sector has continued on with business as usual.
“It was encouraging to see the proportion of positive comments increase further to 69.5%, compared with 65% in August. In terms of specific comments, a clear proportion of negative comments continued to mention general uncertainty around the election. Positive comments were varied, but a number mentioned increased orders and sales both domestically and offshore”.
BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert, said that “the manufacturing industry would seem to be forging ahead quite nicely. This was definitely the message in the PMI’s production index for September, while the tone from its new orders index remained relatively upbeat too”.

Zurich, October 2, 2017 – Swarovski made its debut with the ‘Women of Impact’ discussion featuring Hollywood star Glenn Close, alongside exclusive lunch and cocktail events for guests from the worlds of cinema and busin…

Together with HMD Global, the new home of Nokia phones, Spark are bringing the new range of Nokia Android Smartphones to New Zealand through an exclusive partnershipSpark and HMD Global have kicked off an ongoing partnership to bring a r…

Spark has announced the addition of a third mobile node or Evolve Packet Core (EPC), adding additional capacity and resiliency to its nationwide mobile network.   
 
Spark previously had two mobile EPC nodes handling large volumes of traffic, based in Auckland and Christchurch. The new third node, located in Porirua, gives the company additional resiliency and the flexibility to shift and re-route traffic around as required, particularly in the case of a natural disaster or emergency.
 
Spark mobile customers have already devoured 34 Petabytes of data – (that’s over 34 Million Gigabytes of data or 4,886,819 hours streaming Ultra High Definition video) in the first eight months of 2017 compared to 6.89 Petabytes consumed in the same period last year.
 
This incremental increase in capacity means the Spark network is geared up to meet future technology requirements including the roll-out of 4.5G and the expansion of its wireless broadband service.
Spark’s General Manager of Networks, Colin Brown, says that the changing needs of customers is driving a focus to a wireless future.
 
“Rapid advances in wireless capability, together with the uptake of mobile apps and video streaming means we see people on the network for longer and downloading more data than ever before. 
“We want to ensure we are giving our customers the best wireless experience possible. The installation of this third node is important because our customers expect an ‘always on’ service and so we need to ensure we have the capacity and resiliency to provide this. 

“This demand for data means we need to evolve our network and our plans as we have done with the expansion of our 4.5G network and the introduction of our new unlimited mobile data plan.”  
 
Spark is the only New Zealand mobile provider to have deployed next generation 4.5G technology as a pathway to 5G. 
 
Spark has switched on 4.5G in Silverdale, Milwater, Christchurch CBD, Queenstown, Cambridge, Turangi, Alexandra, Cromwell and Red Hill in Whitianga. More New Zealand towns are to be activated with 4.5G within the next 12 months, alongside Spark’s ongoing 4G upgrade and deployment programme.

Kiwi workers and their families are set to benefit from a world first healthcare initiative which will see them provided with free access to up to forty preventative health services.Under the multi-million dollar scheme, employees and th…

Faye and Bernard Leov are appealing the judgment of the Blenheim High Court, delivered on 29 August 2017, which found them liable in defamation for the contents of a letter sent by Dunedin writer Susan Dunn in September 2012.The Leovs ar…

The Auckland Business Forum wants the incoming Government to fast track completion of an integrated investment package of the East-West Link road between Onehunga and Mt Wellington and the third rail line between Wiri and Westfield.proje…

Crown World Mobility (NZ) are the proud winners of the ‘Best Vendor Partnership’ title at the acclaimed 2017 Expatriate Management and Mobility Awards (EMMAs) event in Hong Kong. Crown World Mobility (NZ) is part of the Crown…