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New Zealand kiosk project under threat

February 25, 2002

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PENROSE, New Zealand - A dispute into placement and rental issues has driven a wedge between a New Zealand kiosk deployer and one of the country's leading shopping mall management firms and threatens a public access kiosk project launched in late 2001.

Online provider Zip Internet and property developer Westfieldare at an impasse over a deal to install Internet-access kiosks at shopping malls in Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, and Wellington (See story: New Zealand set for kiosk expansion). The dispute started when Zip refused to sign a contract allowing Westfield the right to move the kiosks after five kiosks had already been installed.

Westfield earlier this month went ahead and moved one of the kiosks from a high-traffic location in the food court of an Auckland mall. Zip, which pays Westfield rent on the kiosks based on location, said the kiosk was damaged in the move and has not been operable for two weeks, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Westfield claims that Zip owes more than $2,000 in unpaid rent on the kiosks that have been installed. Zip officials said they were withholding rent until the dispute was settled.