NOW has about 15,000 residential customers around New Zealand to whom it mainly provides broadband internet services, and about 3000 business customers to whom it provides broadband and mobile phone services.
Mercury informed staff this week that NOW would be wound down over the next nine months and closed.
“Around 70 NOW staff across Hawke’s Bay, Christchurch, Tauranga, and Hamilton are impacted,” Craig Neustroski, Mercury’s chief strategy and transformation officer, said.
“This is obviously tough news for the NOW team, and we’re committed to supporting the NOW team through this process with care and respect.”
Neustroski did not say how many of the 70 staff were in Hawke’s Bay.
“During consultation we will be exploring redeployment opportunities where possible.”
As well as its Napier office, NOW has a support team and office in Christchurch.
Mercury has no plans to shut down its broadband internet operations.
“The plan is to migrate NOW’s residential customers to Mercury,” Neustroski said.
“Broadband and telco services will still be provided to residential customers through Mercury.
“NOW will help its business customers transition to new providers.”
White, from Hawke’s Bay, is still the chief executive of NOW.
He declined to comment on the closure, other than to say “our priority is looking after our people and our customers”.
In 2002, Sam Deller founded Airnet.
Airnet’s original chairman Craig Foss said Deller and other visionaries “saw the opportunity” to provide fast internet communications in the region.
“[That] removed companies’ excuses not to be in Hawke’s Bay.
“They could be anywhere in the world, in fact, and have an office in Hawke’s Bay,” Foss said.
“That’s what it was at the time.
“It is 24 years of success, and well done to everyone that got us to this stage.
“It’s really unfortunate that the current owners are choosing to rationalise out of Hawke’s Bay.”