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Story: Telecommunications

Big break-up

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Big break-up

The 1987 splitting-up of the Post Office resulted in the formation of Telecom, a state-owned enterprise responsible for New Zealand’s telecommunications. By mid-1989 New Zealand telecommunications were among the least regulated in the world. In 1990 Telecom was sold to a consortium consisting of Bell Atlantic, Ameritech, Fay Richwhite Holdings and Freightway Holdings.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: S-L 1016-COVER

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

A. C. Wilson, Telecommunications – Telecom, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/22022/big-break-up (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by A. C. Wilson, published 13 April 2010, updated 1 April 2022.