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TelstraClear's Paradise.net is a New Zealand ISP
offering dial-up and high-speed internet. It is the second largest ISP
in New Zealand, and a competitor of Xtra, an ISP owned by Telecom.
Paradise was founded in Wellington in November 1997 by businessman Shane
Cole. Initially, dialup service was offered in Wellington only. Paradise
quickly became a leading dialup ISP in the Wellington region. Service
was expanded to Auckland and Christchurch in 1998. A reselling agreement
was also entered with Telstra Saturn in 1998, which meant that customers
who subscribed to Telstra Saturn's cable telephone and cable TV service
could also get Paradise included on their phone bill (either dialup or
cable modem service).
Nationwide dialup access was provided in 1999, and Paradise was one of
the first ADSL providers in 1999, after Telecom Xtra. The company
experienced rapid expansion at this point, and staff numbers increased
by a large proportion. The helpdesk began 24 hour service in April 2000.
In late 2000, the company was sold to Telstra Saturn, formed after the
merger of Telstra NZ and Saturn. Most of the staff were retained, and
were relocated to Telstra Saturn's new purpose built call centre located
near the Stadium, on Wellington's waterfront. The Paradise brand was
absorbed and retained into the new company, and stayed after the
purchase of Telstra Saturn by Clear Communications in December 2001,
forming TelstraClear.
TelstraClear decided to merge the Paradise helpdesk with its existing
Clear.Net helpdesk in Auckland. Most of the Paradise helpdesk staff were
made redundant. Some opted for relocation, and the helpdesk was moved
from Wellington to Auckland in early 2002. Some servers remained in
Wellington however.
Today, Paradise remains a brand inside the TelstraClear umbrella, and
has surpassed the 100 000 subscriber mark. Only a handful of the
existing staff remain, most of them working in the networks side of the
company. External links
Paradise's homepage
TelstraClear, Paradise's parent
company Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise.net |
