Dunedin fibre build finishes two years early
Chorus says it has completed Dunedin's fibre network two years ahead of schedule. It has also completed the first phase of the Ultra-Fast Broadband project in the South Island. The company has installed fibre networks in nine towns and cities covering more than 150,000 households.
Today Dunedin has more than 12,000 gigabit connections. The network passes 53,000 homes. About half of the city's homes and businesses have already connected to the fibre network. The average broadband speed in the city is 309Mbps, four times the national average.
Dunedin's gigabit WiFi network
Dunedin also has a city-wide Wi-Fi network that uses the gigabit fibre technology.
Chorus chief executive Kate McKenzie says; “Since 2015, the people of Dunedin have truly embraced their gig win. Gig connections have gone up five-fold, and average speeds are surpassing those of some the world’s most productive hubs."
Now the South Island focus has switched to the UFB2 and 2+ projects which will see the fibre network extend to 150 more South Island towns by 2022.
Half Spark customers off copper
Spark says just over half of the company's broadband customers are no longer on copper networks. It says around 34 percent of customers are now connected by fibre. Meanwhile 16 percent are on fixed wireless broadband. In a press release Spark says going past the halfway mark is a "critical tipping point".
Nationwide about 42 percent of all homes able to connect to fibre have made the move. Other telcos also report the pace of switching from copper to fibre is accelerating.
Two years ago only 16 percent of Spark customers had moved off copper. At that time Spark had a goal of getting 85 percent or more on to one of the newer technologies.
"Fantastic fibre"
Grant McBeath, who is interim CEO of Spark's Home, Mobile and Business division says: “Obviously fibre is a fantastic technology for households who are using a lot of data, and where it is the right technology for them we’re trying to transition as many customers as possible over to a fibre connection.
"We’ve done a lot of work with Chorus, Enable, Ultrafast Fibre, Northpower and Unison to simplify and streamline the installation process. With the uptake of fibre accelerating as customers see the benefits and more addresses have fibre as an option, this work will continue".
McBeath says: “For customers who are not such big data users or who don’t have fibre available, wireless broadband is a great option."
Optus Australian World Cup streaming fiasco
Many Australian football fans missed games on the opening weekend of the World Cup. One of the two content delivery networks used by Optus to distribute the games failed.
The Sydney Morning Herald described the event as a 'fiasco'. It reports that Australia's television industry wants the government to continue funding the satellites that relay television to remote areas. It says the technology has proven to be more reliable. The SMH also warns that rural customers using wireless broadband are finding data caps a problem during heavy streaming TV events like the World Cup.
After the opening weekend's meltdown Optus agreed to allow SBS, a free-to-air broadcaster, to show the group games on its traditional TV channel. It has also made the Optus Sport app free until the end of August. Customers who paid for the app to receive the World Cup will get a refund.
The company says it has now resolved the technical problems.
Chorus, N4L extend free school internet programme
Chorus and Network for Learning are extending a trial programme where students in low income areas have free internet access for school homework. The programme uses the Chorus fibre network and Wi-Fi in the area immediately around a school.
Last year the pair worked with the Greater Christchurch Schools Network Trust on a project at Haeata Community Campus. This year a pilot is running at Rata Street School in Lower Hutt. Chorus and N4L are working there with the Te Awakairangi Access Trust (Taka Trust), Hutt City Council and the Ministry of Education. It will see 150 homes connected to fibre and Wi-Fi.
It could make a huge difference. Rata Street School principal Dave Appleyard estimates that half of his students do not have home internet access. He says: "For the first time ever, our children will be able to continue their learning at home with digital devices and share this learning with their families. It’s about giving them this choice to learn at home if they want it to because until this trial came about, they wouldn’t have this option.
At the Haeata Community Campus Wi-Fi points of presence are mounted on Chorus telephone poles in the street. These are connected via the Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) network directly to the N4L school network.
A different approach is being used as Rata Street School. Students will be connected using a specially configured Wi-Fi gateway plugged into a free port on a UFB Optical Network Terminal (ONT) device in the home. This will provide a direct connection to the N4L school network and is separate from any broadband service that might already be in the home.
Students will be able to take Chromebooks home from school. They will automatically connect to the N4L network at home.
Homes that do not currently have UFB, or no broadband, will have UFB installed free of charge.
Job seekers like telecommunications
Recruitment company Randstad says the IT and telecommunications sector ranks as the fourth most attractive industry for job seekers. It comes in behind education, professional services and the public service, well ahead of the media or banking. In 2017 it was the second most popular sector.
The company says it asked almost 4000 New Zealanders about their perceptions of employer brands and job seeker drivers. It found 31 percent ranked the IT and telecommunications sector as attractive. They named Datacom, Vodafone and 2degrees as the most attractive companies to work for.
Randstad says more males (35 percent) than females (27 percent) find the sector attractive. Some 44 percent of those 18 to 24 years old rate it as attractive. People say the three things they like most about the sector are that they get to use the latest technologies, have attractive salaries and a pleasant working atmosphere.
Vocus wins PNG, Solomon Islands submarine cable
Vocus Communications has won an Australian government contract to build a cable network to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The 4000km Coral Sea cable will replace an ageing existing connection with fibre. The project was originally going to be built by Huawei, but the Australian government vetoed the project because of security concerns.
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