Tuanz report: Networks built, value missing

2026 Digital Priorities report shows work needed

New Zealand’s tech leaders say the nation’s digital strategy problem is not infrastructure, but putting networks to work.

Presenting the organisation’s 2026 Digital Priorities report, Tuanz CEO and panel chair Craig Young summed up its findings: “We have world class infrastructure but we can’t rely on those strong foundations anymore. We actually have to do something with it.”

Execution is key

Shannon Harris, managing director of HP New Zealand, echoes the idea. She says there is “no shortage of technology… but we have to execute… we have to do more and we have to do it faster.”

Harris says organisations are rethinking costs and architecture, questioning “how flexible or inflexible we’ll be over time”. That opens the door for hybrid models, edge computing and a bigger role for local infrastructure providers.

Security

Security and resilience add another layer of concern. AUT CIO Liz Gosling noted “the weaponisation of AI in the cyber security space keeps me awake at night.”

For One New Zealand CEO Jason Paris, scale is the issue. He says New Zealand produces strong digital use cases, but they are not widely shared or adopted. “Little old New Zealand is doing absolutely incredible things that no one knows about”.

Comment: We have the technology

There’s a clear message in this year’s Tuanz Digital Priorities report: New Zealand does not get all the value from its network.

We have excellent fibre coverage in our towns and, while gaps remain, there is high-quality connectivity almost everywhere. We attract growing data centre investment. Yet, so far, in economic terms the infrastructure investment is underperforming.

Tuanz found that by international standards New Zealand has low mobile data usage, slow cloud adoption and what it describes as “citizen disconnect”.

These are not new problems. Tuanz foreshadowed them in last year’s report. And they were being discussed, albeit with a different framing, as the fibre network was being built.

But now there is a sense of urgency. AI is moving from its experimental phase and switching into production. The world appears to be entering a new technology era.

We’re only going to extract value from AI and cloud if we can use these technologies more intelligently. We need better execution.

New Zealand must create, recruit and retain the talent to make that happen.

Fibre IM Review: Who pays for network growth?

Submissions on the Commerce Commission’s 2027 Fibre Input Methodologies (IM) Review show a divide between infrastructure owners and a leading retailer over how investment risks and costs should be shared with New Zealand consumers.

It boils down to who gets to pay for an extended fibre network.

Input Methodologies are the framework of rules used by the Commerce Commission to set the maximum revenue and quality standards for fibre companies.

Chorus: Streamlining for growth

Chorus largely supports the Commission’s push to simplify the regulatory framework but seeks more flexibility in capital expenditure (capex). As the initial fibre rollout concludes, Chorus proposes merging "connection capex" with "base capex" to reduce administrative overhead.

The company also disputes the proposed $30 million threshold for individual project reviews, suggesting $10 million instead to ensure smaller, complex projects are properly scrutinised.

Chorus also argues for a "lighter regulatory touch" on government-funded expansions, claiming reduced red tape will ultimately lower costs for consumers.

Enable seeks stability and shared risk

Christchurch-based Enable generally aligns with Chorus but prioritises regulatory stability. Unlike Chorus, Enable supports retaining the "Integrated Fibre Plan" over a more generic asset management format.

Enable argues that service rebates—payments made to retailers when the network fails—should be treated as a "cost of doing business”. This would allow fibre companies to recover those costs through regulated pricing rather than absorbing them as losses.

Spark wants competition protected

The sole retail submitter, Spark, is highly critical of settings that might allow "perverse" costs to reach customers. Spark argues the proposed "Willingness to Pay" test for network expansion overstates benefits by ignoring existing broadband options like 5G or satellite.

Spark also warns against "connection incentives”. These are payments used to lure customers to fibre. It fears they could unfairly disadvantage alternative technologies. Spark says consumers should not be forced to subsidise network expansion or the penalties incurred by providers for poor service performance.

For background:

One NZ signs API agreement with Vodafone

One New Zealand has signed a deal with its former parent company Vodafone, giving it access to Network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

Telecoms sector network APIs support activities such as real-time anti-fraud verification, device status checks, secure authentication and digital identity solutions.

Murray Osborne, general manager of One NZ’s Infrastructure Partners says: “This agreement helps us to unlock the full value of our network through globally standardised APIs”.

He says this “Opens new frontiers in app development across sectors including financial services, media and e-commerce.”

With it, developers will be able to integrate capabilities such as number verification, SIM swap detection, and network-based authentication to improve security, help to tackle fraud and deliver smoother customer experiences.

In other news...

• Halter’s direct-to-satellite smart collars — RNZ
  Removes need for on-farm towers — NZ Herald
• Government advertises for under 16 media ban leader —
  The law hasn’t been passed or even debated yet.
• The benefit of AI has become a lot clearer — Mike Hosking Breakfast
  2degrees Andrew Fairgray talks about the telco’s recent report on the local impact of AI.

Tait opens Chile office

Christchurch-based Tait Communications has opened an office in Santiago, Chile to serve customers in South America. The company says it has partners in Chile, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador. One of its main focuses in the region is communications for mining and public safety applications.

NCSC: cyber harm falls as New Zealanders improve defences

Research published by the National Cyber Security Centre found the number of people who suffered harm from an online threat fell from 36 percent in 2024 to 27 percent in 2025.

NCSC chief operating officer Michael Jagusch says this shows people are taking action to protect themselves.

The research, undertaken by The Research Agency, found more people using password managers and two-factor authentication on their main online accounts.

This time last year

Tuanz released the 2025 edition of its Digital Priorities report calling on government to take a stronger, more co-ordinated approach. The same idea was embedded in this year’s report, see the story higher up this page. It’s a perennial problem.

Five years ago in Download Weekly

A ruling at the Auckland District Court found Vodafone guilty of nine Fair Trading Act charges over its FibreX brand. FibreX was the name Vodafone used when it rebranded its HFC network to compete with the UFB fibre network. The service is currently being retired.

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