Has Telcoinabox left New Zealand?

Monday, 8 July 2013, 5:33 pm
Press Release: Conversant

Has Telcoinabox left New Zealand?

It appears Australian telecommunications franchisor Telcoinabox has exited the New Zealand market.

Telcoinabox entered the market in 2010, but we have it on good authority that it sold its customer base to another provider last month.

Tellingly, Telcoinabox’s New Zealand website is dead, while its 0800-number disconnects after a short automated message promises to connect you to the local sales team. Also the last tweet from the company’s local Twitter account was sent nearly a month ago.

It appears this exit has been executed on the quiet with franchisees told directly and no official announcement from the company. It has as yet not made it into the local or Australian tech media.

In fact, across the ditch it was reported this week that telco services provider, M2 Telecommunications, has invested $2 million in the IPO of Telcoinabox parent company, Inabox Group.

An indication of Telcoinabox’s change of focus in the local market came last November when it announced it was merging its Australia and New Zealand management teams. At the time CEO, Damian Kay, said the company would continue to expand its New Zealand operations team to support more profitable growth across the group.

What these developments mean for Telcoinabox’s local partners and customers is something we’re still trying to establish.

However, it does serve as a timely reminder to be careful who you partner with. While large, overseas-based organisations do seem to offer security and stability, the fact is they will always be driven by priorities in other, large markets.

This will affect how much focus they devote to the local market. Unlike providers who are based in and focused on New Zealand, their commitment to the local market will always be influenced by their priorities elsewhere.

Telcoinabox’s apparent decision to exit New Zealand also shows how hard it is to be successful in traditional telecommunications. While billing it’s offering in Australia as “everything you need to be a telco”, Telcoinabox didn’t have a VoIP offering or hosted PBX in New Zealand. It promised local franchisees VoIP services were coming for a number of years. Eventually, some forward-looking franchisees gave up waiting and became Conversant resellers.

This also serves as a warning to aspiring telco providers of the risk of committing significant capital on a me-too service.. We believe Telcoinabox franchises cost over $60,000.

Instead of this kind of capital outlay, resellers or ISPs wanting to expand their portfolio of services should consider partnering with a provider with an established offering, proven service and dedicated local support.

For instance, Conversant’s hosted-PBX offering is a great fit for ISPs. It’s a differentiated offering that requires minimal capital outlay and no maintenance or training overheads.

So if you’re a Telcoinabox customer and worried about your future, give us a shout!

ENDS

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