Beleaguered TUANZ to fight on

Telecommunications Users Association to hold AGM in Telecom building next month

Following a public declaration of financial difficulty in June, the Telecommunications Users Association is holding its annual general meeting next month.

Chairman Pat O’Connell says the organisation has collected about 80 percent of the $400,000 in membership fees it needs to operate.

But despite not reaching its financial target, O’Connell says TUANZ will continue to exist. “We are now in a position to be confident about our survival,” he says.

TUANZ will hold a members-only annual general meeting at Telecom’s head office in Auckland on September 6.

At the AGM new board members and the chair will be elected. O’Connell says he intends to stand again for the position of chairman.

“We are feeling positive, the board (is) strong and keen to recommit,” he says. “We’re certain we have a role that serves the NZ telco customer very well. We intend to stay.”

O’Connell says TUANZ is working on new sponsorship initiatives to “get After Fives [networking events] moving again”. The organisation is also doing some work on “fibre awareness with the government, and is in the early days of planning a significant event early next year.”

Earlier this year several staff members were made redundant and the TUANZ office in Takapuna was closed. The organisation’s CEO, Paul Brislen, now works from home.