duncanblair: Yep, we will be pumping ADSL2+ broadband out of the Courtney Place exchange in February - sorry, there was a slight delay from the original timeframe due to the full backhaul taking longer to install than originally thought.

duncanblair: Latest I have heard indicates mid-Feb, but I will chase up and post the latest once I hear.

duncanblair: Latest I have heard indicates mid-Feb, but I will chase up and post the latest once I hear.

duncanblair: Little bit OT from the original post, but no worries...

We are still working on mobile. All the Orcon staff (including me) now have purple SIMs in their phones, and testing the service.

The last thing you will see from us is another identical service to those already in the market. We are working hard to bring the same kind of innovation to the mobile market as we have in the fixed line space with unbundling. Working out how we are going to do this, and the detail in the background to make this happen is what is taking the time. It is important that we get this sorted before we go about setting (another) launch date - we have learned our lesson.

Orcon is about doing things differently, and mobile will be no exception to this.

jermsie:

duncanblair: Latest I have heard indicates mid-Feb, but I will chase up and post the latest once I hear.

Word is that it's been delayed at least 2 more months. Why's this? Few of my friends in the area were pretty keen to get hooked up asap

Sounddude:

jermsie:

duncanblair: Latest I have heard indicates mid-Feb, but I will chase up and post the latest once I hear.

Word is that it's been delayed at least 2 more months. Why's this? Few of my friends in the area were pretty keen to get hooked up asap

Not true.

From a Technical side, we installed the MSANS in the exchanges this week, and working on getting them connected to the network currently.

More soon :)

jermsie:
Interesting. The person I spoke to on the phone said it'll be a few months.So is it the backhaul and backends that is being worked on?

Sounddude:

jermsie:
Interesting. The person I spoke to on the phone said it'll be a few months.So is it the backhaul and backends that is being worked on?

Backhaul. Just a few more cables to run and some testing to complete.

We have a small week or so for a testing phase, then we will release it to the marketing/sales guys to do what they do best.

And here is the press release I received this morning:

Orcon delivers next-generation broadband to Wellington

Orcon is launching its next-generation, high-speed network in the capital, giving Wellingtonians a taste of award-winning communications.

From today, households and businesses connected to the Wellington Central and Courtenay Place exchanges can sign up for Orcon’s local loop unbundled (LLU) telephone and ADSL2+ broadband network.
 
Orcon CEO Scott Bartlett says he’s pleased to launch in Wellington, giving households in the central city more choice and access to an award-winning service.

Last month Orcon was voted best ISP by PC World. It was named Telecommunications Carrier of the Year at the annual TUANZ awards last year, after winning TUANZ awards for Internet Service Provider of the Year in both 2006 and 2007. It was also named fastest broadband provider in New Zealand in a New Zealand Herald commissioned study by Epitiro late last year.

Orcon has also been awarded for being the best ISP for Mac users (by Macguide in 2006) and continues to pride itself on offering outstanding service to all customers, regardless of their choice of operating system.

Orcon was the first provider to introduce new phone and internet plans following the Government’s decision in late 2006 to ‘unbundle’ the local loop, the copper wires that link homes to their neighbourhood exchanges.

The company successfully launched the LLU service in Auckland in March last year and now customers in New Zealand’s biggest city are enjoying the benefits of proper competition.

The next-generation Orcon+ network features a range of plans that give both residential and business customers access to ‘world class’ broadband as well as available features such as unlimited calling throughout New Zealand. The ultimate residential package includes an unlimited number of overseas calls to one of 15 countries of the subscriber’s choice.

Bartlett says many Auckland households connected to unbundled lines are seeing greatly enhanced speeds at a great price point. 

“We have been receiving a huge amount of feedback from people really impressed at the higher speeds.  They feel like finally they can use the web the way it’s meant to be used.

“Couple that with some great plans that can save customers hundreds of dollars a year and no minimum contract period and Wellingtonians will finally see the benefits of our unbundled service.”

Bartlett says the company can manage the entire process for customers including notifying their previous ISP of their move to Orcon.

Orcon’s unbundled ADSL2+ service has the potential to deliver speeds of up to 24 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and up to 1 Mbps upstream [1], roughly tripling the downstream bandwidth capacity of standard ADSL.  ADSL is the common existing broadband standard in New Zealand. 

Further details are at www.orcon.net.nz/