Telecom NZ reports fibre broadband sale spike

Telecom NZ says the past two months have seen record sales of fibre broadband services.

The company says its sales peaked in November with 1300 customers signing for Telecom Ultra Fibre. Telecom NZ now has 6,000 customers either on the network or waiting for a connection.

This follows a 42 per cent jump in the total number of UFB connections across all service providers during the three months to September 30. That increase saw the uptake of fibre services rise from three percent of potential customers to four percent.

Fibre momentum

If other service providers are seeing sign-ups in-line withTelecom NZ’s figures, it means the government project to deliver fibre to homes in urban areas is now gathering momentum.

Ironically this comes at a time when there’s a question mark over Chorus’ ability to build the network.

Telecom CEO Retail Chris Quin didn’t miss this point. He says:  “If anything, the recent national attention on the UFB rollout is increasing consumer awareness about what UFB can offer”.

Quin says Telecom is seeing a pickup in customer enquiries on the back of its marketing campaign.

Network expanding

Telecom NZ says it is now working with Enable Networks to expand its services to Canterbury. More than 100 residential and business customers in Canterbury are testing Telecom’s service, in preparation for a full commercial launch in early 2014.

Previously Telecom NZ’s Ultra Fibre was only available in areas serviced by Chorus.