Telecom said that it would go ahead with its decision to contact its services to visionstream, notwithstanding the hue and cry raised by the protesting unions. Meanwhile, the Annual General Meet held at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland today witnessed wide spread agitations and protests from people.

Paul Reynolds, Telecom Chief Executive, sought apology from customers who faced difficulties to avail routine services such as getting new telecom line and interruption in services. Auckland and Northland areas faced a lot of telecom problems due to EPMU-lead strikes. Workers are protesting against the management's decision to transfer contracts to line engineers.

Last week, Telecom conceded for the first time that customers were suffering major problems due to the EPMU-lead strikes against owner-operator contracts being offered to lines engineers. The line contract to Visionstream caused 200 engineers to lose their jobs two weeks ago.

Mr. Reynolds termed the decision indispensable for the company, shareholders and all New Zealanders desiring world class services from Telecom. He added: "We can't stand still. We have to move forward. I apologise to customers, especially those in Northland. I take every complaint personally. We are 18 months into our five-year plan, and Telecom needs to get it right. We need to be given space to get it right."