The Commerce Commission has published an interactive map showing it initial assessment of locations where Chorus will eventually be able to stop providing copper services, such as landlines and ADSL or VDSL broadband, because fibre is available.
At the start of 2019 the Commerce commission announced that from 1 January 2020 Chorus will be able to stop offering voice and broadband services over copper lines in areas where Ultrafast Broadband (UFB) is available.
And earlier this month the government announced that their Ultra-fast broadband programme was complete. The programme provided access to high quality broadband to 79% of New Zealanders – that’s more than 1,500,000 households and businesses. But, 720,000 New Zealand homes and businesses had not yet upgraded to fibre broadband.
We are still a while away from anyone being “forced” to upgrade because copper broadband has been discontinued in their area, but now is a great time to get ahead of things, get prepared and upgrade to fibre broadband.
At the moment the Commerce Commission is developing the consumer protections to be included in a copper withdrawal code and will release a draft code for consultation early 2020.
The earliest Chorus can stop supplying these services is from mid-2020 and only in the areas where fibre is available to be installed in homes and once certain consumer protections are in place.
Chorus has created an interactive map showing locations where Chorus will eventually be able to stop providing copper-based phone and internet services.
The earliest this can happen is from mid-2020 and only in the areas where fibre is available to be installed in homes and when certain copper protections are in place. If fibre is not available in your area, then nothing will change.
There are lots of advantages to fibre broadband, it is much quicker and more reliable than copper-based ADSL and VDSL services. A fibre service can keep up with modern streaming platforms like TVNZ on Demand, Netflix, or Neon with no freezing or buffering. Plus it can provide a top notch experience on services like Skype or Facetime.
At Broadband Compare we have already seen a trend of more and more clients switching to a fibre as they recognise the advantages.
Plus, fibre is likely to be cheaper than your current broadband options. Simply enter your address into our address checked to see a tailored list of fibre plans available at your address. Making an informed choice about the best plan for you has never been easier.
Not sure how to proceed? Our friendly team are waiting by the phones in our Auckland office – ready to talk you through the options, answer questions, and help you make an informed choice about the best plan for you.
