Clear Communications
Encyclopedia
Clear Communications was a telecommunications company based in New Zealand
. Until merging into Telstra
's operations in 2001, it was the biggest rival to Telecom New Zealand
.
Clear was equally owned by British Telecom, MCI International
, Television New Zealand
and Todd Corporation Ltd
. Clear Communications employed approximately 1000 staff, and had invested more than $250 million in fixed assets in New Zealand.
In addition to utilising digital microwave telecommunication links owned by Broadcast Communications Ltd (a subsidiary of Television New Zealand), Clear initially leased, then purchased, from New Zealand Rail Limited
(in return for a 15% stake in the company, which New Zealand Rail then sold in 1994.) fibre optic cables linking Auckland
and Wellington
. It also leased fibre optic capacity between Wellington and Christchurch from the Electricorp
. The company also had digital microwave links with the major provincial cities of New Zealand. It installed further fibre optic capacity between Wellington and Auckland to increase transmission capacity and provide route diversity. Fibre loops and duct lines were installed in the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch
central business districts.
Two separate consortia initially began separate interconnection negotiations with Telecom in December 1989, but by May 1990 had decided to merge their interest to form Clear. By April 1991, Clear was offering domestic and international services.
Clear and Telecom had 25 actual and 19 notional points of interconnect (POI) throughout New Zealand. In the areas served by a notional point of interconnect, calls from Clear's customers were trunked to the nearest Telecom telephone exchange
with billing facilities, at which point they were physically handed over to Clear. After conveying the call on its own network, Clear linked back into Telecom's network at the appropriate POI.
Clear achieved approximately 22% of market share in domestic toll services by 1993, reduced to 18% by 1999, and 20% for international toll services.
Initially Clear relied solely on Telecom for international calls, but early in 1992 it commissioned independent facilities. It had its own satellite
earth receiving station in Auckland and was a member of the Tasman-2 fibre optic cable consortium linking New Zealand and Australia
. It was also a member of the consortium owning the PacRim East fibre optic cable between New Zealand and Hawaii
.
In September 1994 Clear began to provide an 0800 freephone service in competition with Telecom. Prior to this, its freephone service had used the code 0508.
In September 1995 Clear reached a new agreement on local service interconnection with Telecom which culminated in a formal local telephone service interconnect agreement in March 1996. This agreement also included new toll bypass interconnect arrangements.
Clear launched an internet service later in 1996 and had about 10,000 customers by May 1997. It also provided the first commercial ATM
service and had an ISDN offering.
In June 1999, BT bought the whole of Clear.
In 2000, Clear signed a deal with Vodafone New Zealand
to give its customers the use of a mobile network.
Clear was acquired by TelstraSaturn in 2001 to form TelstraClear
.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Until merging into Telstra
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
's operations in 2001, it was the biggest rival to Telecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand is a New Zealand-wide communications service provider , providing fixed line telephone services, a mobile network, an internet service provider , a major ICT provider to NZ businesses , and a wholesale network infrastructure provider to other NZ CSPs...
.
Clear was equally owned by British Telecom, MCI International
MCI Inc.
MCI, Inc. is an American telecommunications subsidiary of Verizon Communications that is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia...
, Television New Zealand
Television New Zealand
Television New Zealand, more commonly referred to, and stylized as TVNZ, is a government-owned corporation television network broadcasting in New Zealand and parts of the Pacific. It operates TV1, TV2, TVNZ7, TVNZ Heartland, TVNZ U and new media services....
and Todd Corporation Ltd
Todd Corporation Ltd
Todd Corporation is a New Zealand company owned and controlled by the Todd family and based in Wellington. The corporation is controlled by John D. Todd its chairman who according to Forbes Magazine is New Zealand's first billion dollar company. John D...
. Clear Communications employed approximately 1000 staff, and had invested more than $250 million in fixed assets in New Zealand.
In addition to utilising digital microwave telecommunication links owned by Broadcast Communications Ltd (a subsidiary of Television New Zealand), Clear initially leased, then purchased, from New Zealand Rail Limited
Tranz Rail
Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Ltd , was the main rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003.- Formation :...
(in return for a 15% stake in the company, which New Zealand Rail then sold in 1994.) fibre optic cables linking Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
and Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
. It also leased fibre optic capacity between Wellington and Christchurch from the Electricorp
Electricity Corporation of New Zealand
The Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Ltd is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise formed on 1 April 1987, as a transition entity in the process of deregulating the New Zealand electricity market...
. The company also had digital microwave links with the major provincial cities of New Zealand. It installed further fibre optic capacity between Wellington and Auckland to increase transmission capacity and provide route diversity. Fibre loops and duct lines were installed in the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
central business districts.
Two separate consortia initially began separate interconnection negotiations with Telecom in December 1989, but by May 1990 had decided to merge their interest to form Clear. By April 1991, Clear was offering domestic and international services.
Clear and Telecom had 25 actual and 19 notional points of interconnect (POI) throughout New Zealand. In the areas served by a notional point of interconnect, calls from Clear's customers were trunked to the nearest Telecom telephone exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
with billing facilities, at which point they were physically handed over to Clear. After conveying the call on its own network, Clear linked back into Telecom's network at the appropriate POI.
Clear achieved approximately 22% of market share in domestic toll services by 1993, reduced to 18% by 1999, and 20% for international toll services.
Initially Clear relied solely on Telecom for international calls, but early in 1992 it commissioned independent facilities. It had its own satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
earth receiving station in Auckland and was a member of the Tasman-2 fibre optic cable consortium linking New Zealand and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It was also a member of the consortium owning the PacRim East fibre optic cable between New Zealand and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
In September 1994 Clear began to provide an 0800 freephone service in competition with Telecom. Prior to this, its freephone service had used the code 0508.
In September 1995 Clear reached a new agreement on local service interconnection with Telecom which culminated in a formal local telephone service interconnect agreement in March 1996. This agreement also included new toll bypass interconnect arrangements.
Clear launched an internet service later in 1996 and had about 10,000 customers by May 1997. It also provided the first commercial ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a standard switching technique designed to unify telecommunication and computer networks. It uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing, and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells. This differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that...
service and had an ISDN offering.
In June 1999, BT bought the whole of Clear.
In 2000, Clear signed a deal with Vodafone New Zealand
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
to give its customers the use of a mobile network.
Clear was acquired by TelstraSaturn in 2001 to form TelstraClear
TelstraClear
TelstraClear is New Zealand's second-largest telecommunications company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telstra Corporation , with around 400,000 customers....
.