Interview | Scott Bartlett, CEO Orcon Internet Limited | Gamefreaks ...

Gamefreaks was given the opportunity to talk to Scott Bartlett, the CEO for Orcon Internet Limited in NZ. ?Scott became the CEO in 2007, and was listed as the youngest leader of a Telecommunications Provider. So we decided to put Scott in the hot seat to give us the spin as to where Orcon is heading, specifically in regards to gaming.

To break the ice can you tell our readers a little about yourself (background and hobbies) and what you do in the industry?

I?ve worked in the internet game all my working life. I have been running Orcon since 2007, before that I ran another smaller ISP. Work takes up a good chunk of my time, but I try and squeeze chunks of socializing and time riding my latest toy ? a Ducati Monster 696 motorbike.

Are you a big gamer? If so what console do you have and what are your favourite games?

I?d call myself a casual gamer. We have an Xbox 360 and a PS3, but I tend to head back to the games I grew up with ? SimCity2000 and Transport Tycoon. So, I guess when I?m not running a company, I spend time pretending to run a city or another company. I had a play around on the Star Trek MMO online the other day and loved that (I?m, for my sins, a Trekkie).

In 2007 LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) was a big thing for Orcon, enabling you to install equipment in the Ponsonby Exchange where you were able to deliver ADSL2+ from your own DSLAM. This allowed you to become the first ISP (Internet Service Provider) to commercially launch ADSL2+. Now with UFB (Ultra-Fast Broadband) on the way, what does this mean for Orcon?

It?s all about innovation. As a mass market play, it?s new technology, and that means we can have fun inventing stuff to maximize its potential. It?s an exciting time to be in the internet game.

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What will UFB mean to consumers and how will it affect the roadmap for Orcon? Will there be specific products on offer and ultimately with fibre to the home what will it mean for gamers?

UFB will be awesome for gamers. Fibre is as good as it gets when it comes to connectivity. However, content is where we?ll see some interesting changes. In the US Netflix accounts for 20-25% of all traffic. In the UK it?s the same for iPlayer. People want great content, and in a UFB world it will be easier to get that content to them.

Orcon has announced Zero-rated Steam Server (based in the Orcon datacentre), specifically for kiwi gamers where traffic is zero rated. Given that most ISPs have data usage caps, how big a deal is this for consumers?

We think it?s a massive deal. One of the main barriers to downloading games from Steam has been data charges. We?ve wiped that barrier out. We knew it would be popular, but have been blown away by the positive feedback. And that feels really good, that we can do something quite simple from a technical standpoint that benefits people so much.

You have launched a community gaming site (games.orcon.net.nz), can you tell our readers about what it offers and why you put it together?

This was really driven by some of the Orcon staff who are big gamers. They saw the need to local servers and a community to support that. It will, no doubt, be shaped by the community and what they want from it.

How big a deal is gaming to Orcon as a company and to staff?

Again, it?s massive. Orcon has a long history supporting gamers and appealing to gamers. Most of our technical team, including the head of networks, are gamers, so they know what they want from an ISP and work hard to make sure the network works well for gamers. Gamers demand the best, and if they get the best they are happy to reward an ISP buy opening their wallets.

As the gaming industry is growing at a rate of knots, what impacts does this have on ISP?s given that more gamers are online for longer periods, and games require reliable and faster bandwidth?

As an ISP, our job is to predict network trends, and scale up to meet demand. It?s always changes, and we have to be on our toes, but that?s what makes it exciting.

There is a lot of talk about the new laws coming in to play around downloading movies and the role of ISPs as enforcers. Can you explain how it will work and what consumers should expect? How big a deal is it really and should we be worried about threats made from hackers such as Anonymous who have indicated they will attack any agency that supports such ?violations of free speech??

At the end of the day, NZ ISPs have to comply with the law. We have been vocal over the past few years about changes we don?t think were ideal, but it?s done now, and we have to follow procedure. Internet NZ?s site 3strikes.net.nz is well worth a read if you want to delve into that procedure, it?s a great resource.

Does Orcon have any more ideas on how to continue to support the gaming industry in NZ?

Watch this space ? we have a few things up our sleeves!

Source: http://www.gamefreaks.co.nz/2011/08/30/interview-scott-bartlett-ceo-orcon-internet-limited/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=interview-scott-bartlett-ceo-orcon-internet-limited

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