I often enjoy listening to the “Sunday Group” interviews on National Radio on Sunday mornings – and this morning was no exception. Chris Laidlaw’s Sunday Group this morning consisted of Paul Reynolds, a well known technology commentator; Tom Chignall, head of regulatory affairs for Vodafone; Jo Tinall, director of the digital broadcasting strategy for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage; and Ernie Newman, CEO of the Telecommunications Association of NZ (TUANZ).

Their topic was the state of telecommunications in NZ, and Chris began by referring to a recent news report that states that there are now more mobile phones in New Zealand than there are people (they’ll soon be competing with sheep!) – and asks:

– what is happening with telecommunications in NZ?
– are we getting good service?
– where is broadband going?
– what will happen to landlines?

The group then set about sharing their opinions and ideas – among them was a comment by Paul Reynolds which I particularly align with in which he said

it’s not about technology, it’s about a cultural change that we can drive and change!

Paul was referring to developments in the area of digital content, referring to the National Digital Content Strategy’s distinction between 3 types of content; authoritative, creative/commercial, and informal. It is this last are that is driving a lot of the current use of telecommunications, and is seeing a shift from individuals being regarded as “consumers” to “users” in the discourse around telecommunications use.

A great discussion – and if you missed it, a podcast of the interview can be downloaded here.