Clear Communications
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| Public | |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Defunct | 2001 - Merged with TelstraSaturn to form TelstraClear |
| Headquarters | Wellington, New Zealand |
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 Bell Canada Enterprises, 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 utilizing 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.
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