If you missed Part 1 of our Fibre Installation Case Study you can read that by clicking here.
How do I get fibre broadband into my house?
As it happened I didn’t wait very long. On the same day, Monday 8th August 2016 I received a call from my chosen ISP who confirmed over the phone everything I had requested on the site and explained the next steps and how things would now be handed over to Chorus. I put the phone down at 1057 pretty confident that things were happening and underway.
In less than an hour the next stage kicked in. Email confirmation received at 1136. Confirming once again everything I had completed and then spoken about on the phone.
Wait again. Things were now in the hands of Chorus, the network operator.
At 1856 on the same day, just about 8 hours after I confirmed everything with the ISP, Chorus called. They didn’t just call. They also texted and emailed at 1856 with my reference number etc and prompted me to give them a call back. There was a warning too. If you don’t get back in touch to confirm things within 7 days they will cancel the provisioning and you have to start the whole process again. Which I think is fair enough.
Did I mention I rented? One of the big points of confusion and hold up to fibre installation is often cited as landlord or rental property issues.
“Oh… but I rent… I can’t get fibre” is something we often hear when people are making enquiries to us. Well why the hell not? A fibre connection is going to increase the asset that is your landlord’s property. On www.realestate.co.nz they even list and mark the internet connectivity at the property now just like they do for school zones. It is an ASSET to have fibre connected to a property so sell it in to your landlord. There are lots of tidy and unobtrusive ways to get fibre connected to the property so there is nothing to lose from asking. If you need an independent view, then get them to give us a call on 0508 2COMPARE and we will talk them through the process and the benefits.
Being completely frank, if I had a rental property and the chance of a fibre connection, I’d be getting it signed up right away! The government won’t be paying to connect properties to the fibre network forever you know… so your landlord should take advantage while the budget is there.
When it comes to landlord permissions you no longer need a written consent form from the landlord. You do still need to gain consent but as the tenant you are able to sign and approve everything that is needed to get the work underway. My own fibre connection I received permissions from my rental manager who contacted the landlord on my behalf and she emailed through the approval. I just went from there, Chorus didn’t need the landlord’s signature, the email confirmation was fine.
Anyway. I digress!
So, I rang back Chorus on the number they left, spoke to a very competent support person who presented me with a range of options and times for the work. I checked my calendar and booked things in then and there. A number of slots were readily available for my property in Auckland and so I got everything booked in. This is where the ABC process kicks in.
A – AGREE
B – BUILD
C – CONNECT
I booked in the slots for A and C right there on the phone. These were set for the morning of 17th August, just over a week after I signed up for fibre. The Connection date was set for the 29th August, 3 weeks after my initial registration for fibre services.
…and that was it. Time to sit and wait.
Throughout the whole process I received text and email reconfirmations as well as being directed to the Chorus online website which tracks the status of your connection and the dates that you are having bits done, you can see a screenshot below, all very impressive and good on the communication front.
Fast forward a week to the 17th August and I received a call just after 0700 from the Chorus contractor who was coming to do the AGREE element of my fibre install, this involves an onsite review. This initial meeting with a Chorus technician takes approximately an hour and it is where they document the work requirements and make a note of any work that needs to be completed both inside and out on your property. You are then presented with an agreement form completed by your Chorus technician which you’ll be asked to sign. This agreement covers what they need to do to get the fibre from the road to the outside of the house and then where they will install the fibre equipment inside the property.
You can see a copy of the agreement here so you’ll know the sort of questions that will come your way.
Anyway, so Darvesh from Chorus called at 0700 and said he’d be with me at 0830. All booked in… I better get in the shower!
Chorus arrived at just before 0830. 0827 to be precise. Darvesh appeared to be a third party contractor working on behalf of Chorus from a company called Link2Services, he introduced himself and said what he’d be looking to do. I popped my shoes on, went outside and walked around the property with him, he asked a number of questions in his hunt for a white Chorus box somewhere on my property and we discussed a variety of options for taking the fibre from the street to my home. My property is a bit tricky. Big slope, some random rockeries, lots of concrete, on pillars round the back etc. After determining that a trench was not really an option, we decided that the best route to the house was going to be a surface mounted solution along the fence. The lightweight nature of the cable means it won’t cause any weight-bearing issues but I did still have a couple of repairs I needed to do to secure the fence first. From the fence, the next challenge was getting into the property.
So Darvesh asked if he could come inside and have a look. His shoes came off and inside he came. He had a good roam about, up in the roof… nope, not an option. Back outside to check under the house. A much better option. Coming into the property you will require a jack point and a power point. Darvesh then discovered another telephone jack point in the bedroom, which, shamefully after all the hunting, I didn’t know was there. This was the best plan and neatest way to connect into the property with minimal disruption.
That was stage one pretty much complete. Darvesh went back to his van and wrote up the paperwork. He then walked me through the paperwork and explained everything clearly and easily. Reading through each stage and ticking or crossing what was going to be done.
At 0852 I signed the consent form and my involvement was done on stage A – AGREE.
Darvesh then went out onto the street and began some work on the connection from road to property. He then left at 0907. 40 minutes to get the AGREE stage complete. Well… except for me having to fix my fence which I got straight onto because the BUILD stage will kick in in about a week or so and I don’t need to be home for that stage, but I do need to ensure everything is ready for the work to be done.
So far, so good. Impressed with how smooth everything is running.
Read Part 3 of this Fibre Installation Case Study here.
