Chorus tests more-than-you-can-eat 10 Gbps fibre

You may be right if you think you’re not ready for or don’t need 10Gbps residential broadband. For now, it’s a niche product for a niche market.

Yet it won’t be long before it is mainstream.

Next month, New Zealanders will be able to test the world’s fastest residential broadband. From mid-March, 30 volunteers will get early access to 10Gbps on the Chorus fibre network.

It’s not the world’s first residential 10Gbps service. Singapore already has 10Gbps. Yet Chorus is early to the technology.

Now is the time for 10Gbps

There are good reasons to start testing now.

First, New Zealand’s UFB fibre infrastructure is ready for faster services. That was the plan from the outset. Moving to 10Gbps means new equipment at either end of the fibre. It’s an upgrade.

Second, it’s good to be ahead of the demand curve. When UFB was first dreamed up, planners expected one in five people who could get fibre to take it up by 2020.

Today, roughly half the people who can connect to fibre do. That number is set to increase as we get closer to the Rugby World Cup.

There are reasons why uptake is greater than expected. Netflix and Lightbox are the usual suspects. But that’s immaterial. The point is fibre growth has been well ahead of predicted demand curves. The same could be true for 10Gbps.

Prestige

Another, less tangible, reason to get cracking with 10Gbps is prestige.
New Zealand would be among only a handful of countries to offer the service. It’s a testament to our network and planners that we get there early.

On a more practical level, Chorus managed to announce its service ahead of competitors. It faces a form of competition from ISPs who want to unbundle fibre. Offering a faster 10Gbps service was one way an unbundler might have differentiated. That’s no longer an option.

Likewise, 10Gbps puts clear blue water between UFB fibre and fixed wireless broadband. When 5G arrives, it, in theory, could offer wireless data speeds that match today’s best UFB speeds.

On paper the 5G specification could see 10Gbps fixed wireless services. That is years off. Apart from anything else, it needs more spectrum than is available to cellular companies either now or after the next round of auctions.

Get ready for 10Gbps

A more subtle point is that having 10Gbps now encourages customers to prepare for faster broadband.

As things stand few homes can make full use of the speed. Devices operating at 10Gbps are scarce. The line speed is much faster than home wi-fi networks. You can buy network storage devices that run at 10Gbps, but slower speeds are more common.

Even among the homes that have wired networks, many can’t handle 10Gbps at the moment. The most popular residential Ethernet routers offer 1Gbps.

That’s why Chorus is being picky about who can take part in its test run.
Chorus is looking for 30 volunteers. Candidates need to already have a 1Gbps plan with one of the partner RSPs.

Chorus is a wholesale broadband provider. That means it can only serve 10Gbps broadband through one of its retail partners. Kordia, 2degrees, Trustpower and Stuff Fibre are among the first to sign up. Others will follow.

Test pilots have to live in one of three Chorus exchange areas. That’s Johnsonville in Wellington, Avondale and Birkenhead in Auckland.
Another must-have is a device with a 10Gbps port. Trialists will need to agree to provide feedback on the service.

Big (home) data

The trial is most suitable for people who work with large data files, say movies or high-quality audio. It may also be useful for homes with some high-end gamers or use other demanding applications.

The Chorus 10Gbps trial is a collaborative project. It will use Nokia’s XGS-PON (passive optical network) fibre technology.

Chorus chief customer officer, Ed Hyde says 10Gbps underpins New Zealand’s digital future. He says it will “continue our decade long commitment to innovation and keeping New Zealand’s broadband infrastructure at the cutting edge.”

If the trial is a success, Chorus aims to roll out the service nationwide. You can take that as read. It may not be everywhere this year, but it’s coming.