AUCKLAND, New Zealand, June 13 (UPI) -- Last month's visit by New Zealand Telecom officials to British Telecom has stirred speculation the Kiwis will split off their wholesale and retail businesses.
The high-level trip was revealed Monday and had some analysts convinced Telecom was looking at a move similar to the one BT made last year in which BT's wholesale arm was recreated as Openreach.
"If Telecom positions itself in the right way through a separation process, it could be in the position of being the lead in the internet economy," independent analyst Paul Bidde told the New Zealand Herald. "They have a couple of years of pain in front of them, but there is no gain without pain."
The move paid off for BT, which saw earnings pop in the aftermath while its share of the U.K. broadband market solidified.
At the same time, Telecom has been under pressure from the New Zealand government to voluntarily separate its operations. An unidentified analyst told the Herald it was doubtful Telecom would go through with an operations split unless "significantly pushed" by the government.
