School students across the country have been given the chance to prepare for their scholarship biology exam via a seminar series presented by leading New Zealand scientists and teachers through a converged satellite TV solution.

Kordia™ has announced the results of its FY08 financial performance which were well below FY07 results.  FY07 had been an exceptional year as a result of a $50m mobile network deployment project undertaken in Australia.

Revenue was down nine per cent on last year to $239m, with EBITDA down 16 per cent (to $42m) and EBIT down by 50 per cent (to $13m).

The Contracting and Consulting business had a challenging year, particularly in Australia.

Kordia™ is making solid progress with the development of its business case to build a new fibre optic, submarine cable that will link Australia and New Zealand.

A marine desktop survey for the project is underway.  This will provide quantifiable data around routing and investment that will inform Kordia™’s business case.

Detailed designs for the landing station in New Zealand are well underway, although the exact site has yet to be announced.

When eight digital artists spend a week inventing, the results are spectacular - artworks that react to movements and sound, a dancer using computer graphics as a partner and ping pong balls that let you control Google Earth.

The Auckland-based project, dubbed Purple Spheres, last week saw Orcon assemble artists, designers, developers and self confessed ‘geeks’ from the UK, Australia and New Zealand to investigate what happens when art meets technology.

Orcon has been named Telecommunications Carrier of the Year, stepping up the company’s challenge to the industry’s status quo.

“We might be the new boys on the block, but we’ve beaten off the big telecoms companies to take out the industry’s top award for 2008,” says Orcon CEO Scott Bartlett.

Orcon’s purple fleet adds a touch of green

Orcon has a new fleet of three MINI Clubmans - and estimates the move to the new cars will prove to be a smart choice.

Orcon CEO Scott Bartlett says: “Not only do the Clubmans look great, they will also save us money.”

Fuel consumption for the Clubman Cooper S is a thrifty 5.8 litres per 100kms – half that of the Holden Commodores Orcon became renowned for.

Orcon hosts TVNZ content in own datacentre to ensure smooth online experience.

Orcon has banished the slow load times and overloaded service problems that normally plague high-profile events by hosting the live streams of TVNZ’s Olympic content in its own data centre.

Benefits of high-speed internet now from just $54.95 a month.

Farmers and rural communities can now ditch painful dial-up internet connections and get Orcon’s next-generation broadband beamed directly to the home.

From today Orcon is expanding its high-speed internet services into rural areas and offering a wireless service from just $54.95 a month.

Orcon’s roll-out of unbundled high-speed internet and phone services continues with availability in 23 suburbs by the end of August.

Orcon has also unveiled one new plan and updated an existing plan to offer an even wider range of options.

Orcon@Home Silver+ is high-speed broadband and a landline with voicemail, call waiting and caller ID for $79.95 a month. In addition, the data cap on the Naked DSL product, Purple+, will be increased to 15GB from 23 July.

PIPE Networks Limited (ASX:PWK) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, PIPE International (Australia) Pty Ltd, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kordia™ Group Ltd, a leading provider of customised broadcast and telecommunications networks, network services and converged solutions in New Zealand.