Editorial: New response from Telecom

OPINION: Many people yearn for the time before mobile telephones became ubiquitous.

On Monday customers on Telecom's $600 million flagship XT network got the chance to relive the old days when a software glitch killed the network off for a good 10 hours.

The modern business world is built around the cellphone and there is no doubt the Telecom outage caused a degree of difficulty for many. What has been heartening since then is the company's response, which is worlds away from the Telecom of old.

In the not too distant past customers were put through the equivalent of flaming hoops before they could qualify for any compensation to make good for network glitches.

Telecom, to its credit, has gone out of its way to make amends.

Because the outage happened on a Monday, Telecom has credited customers for an equivalent day – Monday December 7 – which was considered a normal day when they could make calls. In addition all calls on the XT network will be free this weekend, the catch being they have to be to other Telecom mobiles or landlines.

Nevertheless the weekend freebie is likely to cost Telecom millions of dollars in lost revenue and make a lot of customers happy the weekend before Christmas.

Telecom's make good package is generous, although it is unclear whether it is so good it will spark an exodus of Vodafone customers hoping to cash in on a repeat of Monday's snafu.

The offer was accompanied by a sincere-sounding apology from Telecom chief executive Paul Reynolds.

Mr Reynolds, recipient of the country's most generous pay cheque, is also arguably the country's best apology maker. The sorry was timely, it was made without bluster, and it showed Mr Reynolds has a deft hand when it comes to public relations.

It recognised that Kiwis are – by and large – a fair bunch. If you muck something up, you admit it, make amends, and move on. That does not mean that the mistake is forgotten. Indeed, it is fair game to be brought up for at least another five years, but in a broad sense all is forgiven.

The tactics evoke the approach of former British MP and current London mayor Boris Johnson, who has a talent for seeing the silver lining to every cloud. After he was sacked from the Conservative front bench, he wrote about the tremendous sense of freedom it gave him.

"My friends," Mr Johnson once wrote. "As I have discovered myself, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters."

Software being what it is, there is a good chance Telecom will face similar situations. Consumers will be keen to see whether it is as generous then.

- © Fairfax NZ News