On 8 August, Telecom will become Spark New Zealand, and the firm's ticker code on both NZX and ASX will change from the current TEL to SPK.
“Spark is much more than just a new name - it reflects enormous change underway in our business and in the world around us,” said Chief Executive Simon Moutter.
“As a company we’ve moved far beyond the home telephone. Spark better represents what we are today – it is all about mobile data, online entertainment, Cloud services, the internet of things, or whatever new technology is around the corner.
Spark New Zealand will have four core business units and brands. Spark Home, Mobile and Business will take over from Telecom Retail, Gen-I will become Spark Digital, Spark Connect will denote Telecom Connect, Spark Wholesale will replace Telecom Wholesale and Telecom Digital Ventures will change to Spark Ventures.
The Revera, Skinny, Bigpipe, Qrious, Lightbox and Telecom NZ International brands will remain unchanged.
Moutter stated the transition to Spark is a massive undertaking with a number of underlying technology changes as well as the more visible changes to branding and signage. Some of these changes would be phased in over a period of time to manage the transition in the best way for customers.
“The technical transition to Spark is extremely complex, especially with so many of our customer services revolving around digital connections via our networks or the internet,” Moutter commented.
“Phasing in the changes is therefore the best way to reduce the risk of disruptions to customer services and to manage the transition cost-effectively. Throughout this transition period, the priority is to ensure customers continue to receive great service – regardless of whether the brand name visible to the customer is Spark, Telecom or Gen-i.”
