Broadband rivals get airwaves buzzing.

(From The Dominion Post)

Byline: BATHGATE Adrian

A new breed of entrepreneurs is taking advantage of cheaper wireless technologies to compete head-on with Telecom for high-speed Internet customers. Adrian Bathgate surveys the rapidly changing landscape of wireless broadband.

NEW ZEALANDERS revel in their image as do-it-yourself entrepreneurs with a No 8 wire mentality.

New technology has allowed some businesses to go one step further, however, and throw the wire out altogether.

In several regional centres small companies have sprung up which use advanced "point to multipoint" technology to offer Internet services. Historically one of the reasons such operators have sprung up has been the lack of broadband outside the main centres. This is something Telecom, New Zealand's largest Internet provider, has invested heavily in to rectify.

The desire for broadband in the Buller and Nelson areas was why The Pacific.Net was formed 2 1/2 years ago. Chief executive Steve Christie said the region realised it needed broadband for development. In that time, he says, the …