TECH’S TOP 10
Who has the most sway over the New Zealand technology scene? Tech writer
Chris Keall — with the help of writers and commentators Bill Bennett, Paul Brislen and Peter Griffin — lists the people with the policy clout, financial wherewithal and power to influence our information and communications technology landscape Peter Beck Rocket Lab founder
One-time Fisher and Paykel apprentice Peter Beck has created a whole new industry, with Rocket Lab (valued at more than $1.5 billion and climbing) singlehandedly propelling New Zealand from nowhere to be the world’s fourth-largest launcher of small satellites last year.
Yes, his company is now registered in the US and expanding operations there, but most of its 500 staff are in New Zealand. And Rocket Lab is looking for 100 more people pronto, with Launch Complex 1 at the Mahia Peninsula set to remain as its high-volume launchpad longterm.
Beck is also a member of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Business Advisory Council, and it was notable that he spoke out strongly against a capital gains tax, which he saw as a negative for an already sparse tech start-up scene.
Marko Bogoievski Infratil CEO, Vodafone NZ chairman-in-waiting
As Telecom chief financial officer, Marko Bogoievski said the Government was going to carve up the company — and that it would be better to control its own destiny by structurally separating itself. The board didn’t want to know about it, and overlooked him for CEO when Theresa Gattung departed.
History proved Bogoievski right as he watched from afar in his new role as head of Infratil, a company that ran buses and airports and utilities . . . and over time, introduced broadband to one of its properties, Trustpower. It also made a wildly successful bet on cloud computing with its 2016 investment of $420 million in Canberra Data Centres (now worth just under $1 billion) and a recent $3.4b bid (with Brookfield) for Vodafone’s NZ business.
If the Vodafone deal gains regulatory approval, as expected, Intratil will be one of the biggest players on the NZ tech scene. And Bogoievski has outlined big plans for its latest acquisition, including a major push into fixed-wireless broadband — which has a lot of potential to compete against UFB fibre — after 5G mobile networks arrive, and a radical proposal for Vodafone, Spark and 2degrees to pool resources on mobile infrastructure.
Megan Woods Minister of Research, Science and Innovation
The Science, Research and Innovation Minister quickly made her mark by dismembering Callaghan Innovation’s Growth Grant scheme — which had dispensed hundreds of millions to start-ups under a governmentpicks-winners approach — and replacing it with a universal 15 per cent R&D tax break.
Whether the radical shift in approach works won’t become obvious for several years, but there’s no doubt Woods is as happy to jump in and reshape things as Steven Joyce was before her. Woods retained her R&D role with the Cabinet reshuffle, but will now be distracted to a degree after being drafted in to save KiwiBuild, too.
Stephen Gale Telecommunications Commissioner
The Telecommunications Commissioner is the Commerce Commission’s regulatory cop for the telco industry. They can’t change the law, but investigations and recommendations have led to recent changes such as the ability to take your mobile number with you when you switch phone companies, and lower interconnection fees between networks (which removed a mechanism for the betterestablished Spark and Vodafone to potentially gang up on 2degrees).
Gale is investigating quality of service. We’ll see where that leads for our most complained-about industry. Telco bosses will be bracing.
Sir Stephen Tindall Tech investor
The Warehouse founder has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into countless (actually, 200) local start-ups via his K1W1 fund, from 1994 through to today.
Recent investments include chicken-free chicken maker Sunfed, helping to fund its push into Coles supermarkets in Australia, and a top-up to K1W1’s longstanding holding in Rocket Lab. (Sir Stephen became the first major investor in Rocket Lab in the 2000s after literally stumbling over the tiny start-up, which had an office in the same Parnell, Auckland, building as another of his investments, biofuel company LanzaTech.)
Recent local investments also include: Dotterel, which is developing noise reduction technology for drones; customer feedback software company AskNicely; and Halter, which is developing smart collars that use audio signals to remotely herd cows.
But really, think of any Kiwi tech start-up in the news lately and it’s likely that Sir Stephen is chipping in.
He’s looking for business smarts, bright ideas and a return on his money, of course. But whereas many venture capitalists are mercenary, Sir Stephen sees a broader mission to back New Zealand entrepreneurs who can help to build an information-age economy.
Osmond Borthwick, Len Starling, Brad Ward The ‘Yes, Minister’ crew
ICT and communications ministers come and go, but the bureaucrats who write and manage policy have been remarkably constant.
This is perhaps best evidenced by a complex piece of legislation called the Telecommunications (New Regulatory Framework) Amendment Act 2018. It’s a law that made sweeping changes to the way the industry is regulated — which kick in from next year — but which barely changed as its long journey through Parliament over 2017 and 2018 took in both National and Labour-led governments.
The most powerful ICT mandarin, Bruce Parkes, recently moved to the Department of Conservation, leaving policy manager Osmond Borthwick as the top string-puller. Borthwick doesn’t have as much power as Parkes amassed, but including his stint at the Commerce
Commission, the policymaker has outlasted ICT ministers from Maurice Williamson, to Paul
Swain, to David Cunliffe, to Clare Curran (an abbreviated list or we’ll run out of space).
Ex-Treasury manager Len Starling has spent a decade in charge of radio spectrum policy and planning, from cellular networks to new wireless technologies. His sweeping brief includes competition issues,
Treaty claims, operational policies and hugely contentious spectrum auctions.
And while distracted by a wider brief these days, “Brad Ward has more fingers in more pies than anyone”, one insider says, “maybe even more than Parkes in his heyday”. Since 2018, however, Ward (currently head of the chief executive’s office) has increasingly been pulled away for special projects such as a two-month stint heading KiwiBuild.
Jason Paris Vodafone NZ CEO
Jason Paris started his tenure as Vodafone NZ chief executive with the worst of times, including layoffs, offshoring, outsourcing and price rises (pitched at honing the company for the future, but nevertheless, not much fun for anyone involved).
Now, potentially, he faces the best of times, if he can take advantage of what he calls “the best of both worlds”: local control under new ownership while retaining access to Vodafone’s brand, global roaming and technology.
Paris says he wants to push ahead a lot faster in areas such as fixed wireless broadband and Vodafone TV, which he sees becoming an aggregator for all the streaming video content you need.
We’ll have to see whether he can hit his marks, but without the need to run things past offshore committees or wait in a global queue, Paris will have a much freer hand than his predecessors to pursue his goals.
Nicholas Bagnall ACC investment manager
Despite his subterranean profile, Nicholas Bagnall is the long-time head of ACC’s investment portfolio, which has grown from $27.6b in 2014 to just under $40b today.
The workplace accident insurer has invested in a wide range of instruments and companies as it seeks to fund future payouts, but it’s notable how often ACC appears on the share register of local tech companies. (ACC recently participated in Rocket Lab’s $203m funding round, which notably did not include the $41.2b NZ Super Fund.)
ACC’s largest tech investments include its holding in Spark (worth around $176m), Vodafone NZ buyer Infratil ($156m), Chorus ($97m), Microsoft ($70m), Google parent Alphabet ($75m), Samsung Electronics ($64m), Trade Me ($63m), Apple ($55m), Sky TV ($44m) and Facebook ($41m).
Along the way, Bagnall has become reportedly New Zealand’s highest-paid civil servant. The organisation’s 2018 annual report lists one un-named employee in its highest tier — the $850,000 to $860,000 bracket.
Kris Faafoi Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media
Kris Faafoi — generally wellregarded for his efforts in Commerce and Consumer Affairs — took on the Broadcasting, Communications and Digital
Media portfolios, too, after Clare Curran’s exit from Cabinet and is now righting the ship after his predecessor’s wobbly run.
Some choppy waters could lie ahead, however, as he attempts to find an “enduring” solution for iwi spectrum claims that threaten 5G network upgrades; a UFB broadband pricing spat between Chorus and retail ISPs; and the possibility that Coalition partner NZ First will go feral on both Spark and Sky and re-animate its legislative push for free-to-air sport.
The tech and broadcasting industries now face competition for Faafoi’s attention, however. Housing was added to his lineup of portfolios in the latest Cabinet reshuffle.
Jolie Hodson Spark chief executive
After a quick succession (she was appointed the same evening her predecessor resigned), customer director Jolie Hodson replaced Simon Moutter as head of Spark.
As the head of our largest telco, Hodson become an immediate power player. But only over the coming months will it become clear how she will handle issues such as whether to dump Huawei to stay on-schedule for Spark’s 5G mobile network upgrade, and whether to continue her predecessor’s controversial push into sports broadcasting — seen as something of a hospital pass by some.