In 1994, while partaking in the Fletcher Challenge Young Enterprise Programme* at school, Seeby Woodhouse began to harbour ambitious dreams of building a large New Zealand technology company. As part of the vision he conceived, he drew a visual icon called “The Orconagon”, which was to eventually become the company logo. From this, the name Orcon originated.
At university Seeby started a small business – Orcon Group Limited – that provided computer advice and support, as well as selling early model cell phones and accessories. Before long, demand caused the business to expand services to include PC upgrading and repair services. The business remained focused on Auckland’s North Shore. By 1996 the business had expanded both its range of products and its sphere of operations. It began distributing computer accessories and supplies to small business owners and home users throughout the Auckland region and to various other parts of New Zealand as required.
In 1997 Orcon Group commenced as an ISP with three dial-in 33.6k modems. This was a very small step in what was to prove an exciting path for the business. Through the start-up phase, the market focus was on the no frills end of the market, with pricing at around half the price of the cheapest competition, Orcon was aimed at more skilled and technically-minded customers.
Driven by a need to differentiate, the idea of ISP Wholesale was born. Orcon started providing Internet capacity to other ISP’s which resulted in a larger volume of aggregated services purchased from the Telco’s. At this point the hardware services component of the business was dropped, so that we could focus on the provision of Internet services.
As Orcon grew, logistics demanded a billing system that would handle all the requirements of Orcon’s own customer database, plus the customers of all the wholesale ISP customers. This lead to the commission of a software system for billing – branded as “iBill”. Mark Mackay, director of Digital Edge Ltd, began designing the iBill system on contract to Orcon Group together with Seeby. As the design evolved, two things became apparent; the synergies between the two companies and the market potentials for the billing system. As a result Mark and Seeby combined their respective businesses to form the current company “Orcon Internet Limited”.
In 2002, Orcon became a major ISP in the residential market, a new web portal was launched and marketing initiatives were put in place to continue to grow the customer base that positive word of mouth started. Our customer loyalty, cautious financial planning, and a constant revision of business decisions and practices has seen Orcon grow from the small “3 dial-in modem company” in 1997 to New Zealand’s 4th largest internet provider in 2003 (As ranked by PC World and NZ Telecommunications review).
Recently Orcon was purchased by Kordia™. Orcon will continue to operate as a stand alone company, but will be working closely with Kordia™ to bring the best in communications technology to New Zealand.
To learn more about Kordia™, see their website.
Over the last four years we have seen our staff grow from four to one hundred, revenue has grown fifteen-fold, and things don't look like slowing down anytime soon.
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