Challenges for new Chorus CEO

New Chorus chief executive Kate McKenzie had some major challenges ahead of her, InternetNZ chief executive Jordan Carter said yesterday.

Formerly Telstra's chief operations officer, Ms McKenzie's appointment was announced yesterday as a replacement for retiring chief executive Mark Ratcliffe, who leaves the role in February.

Ms McKenzie will be the only woman to lead an NZX 50 company.

Mr Carter said some of the challenges Ms McKenzie faced included the fast-changing New Zealand telecommunications market.

``It is becoming increasingly evident copper cannot support adequate performance for an ever-growing proportion of New Zealanders, particularly in rural areas.''

InternetNZ believed copper was not capable of contributing to the Government's target of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) for 99% of New Zealanders by 2025.

Copper was increasingly ineffective, more expensive than fibre and more expensive than other emerging forms of connectivity, Mr Carter said.

Chorus faced challenges this year in meeting demand for fibre and InternetNZ hoped that era was over.

Chorus had a responsibility to get New Zealanders connected as quickly and as seamlessly as possible and it was hoped Ms McKenzie was keen to meet the challenge.

``That means providing products that meet customer demand as it changes over time.''

Customer demand included moving the base product from 30Mbps to 50Mbps. Providing ``excellent service'' to internet users and internet service providers supporting them was core business for Chorus, Mr Carter said.

Ms McKenzie said in a statement Chorus had a pivotal role to play in New Zealand's future and she was looking forward to contributing to the next stage of its development, with a strong focus on delivering great experiences for customers.

``I have admired Chorus' roll-out of very high quality broadband structure and I look forward to playing my part in working with the rest of the telecommunications sector to make it as easy as possible for our customers to enjoy the benefits of this nationwide upgrade and all the social and economic benefits that will deliver.''